Introduction Chapter 1. Addiction: from prejudice to compassion Chapter 2. Is addiction a choice? Chapter 3. If it’s the drugs that are addictive, why doesn’t everyone get addicted? Chapter 4. You can teach an old dog new tricks: addiction and recovery Chapter 5. Safety in numbers: nourishing the hungry ghosts Chapter 6. Make love not war: if drug policy understood the science of compassion

"Addiction is arguably the most perplexing and maligned psychiatric disorder. In this broad-reaching book, Svanberg provides a compassionate and yet comprehensive synthesis of competing views of drug use and addiction. This is a compelling and accessible account of how someone becomes addicted and what to do about it. Svanberg is an engaging storyteller who combines narrative with science to help break some of the moral, political and philosophical barriers that prevent society from effectively and compassionately addressing the challenges that addiction pose. This book is essential reading for anyone wanting to make sense of addiction and those that struggle with it." --Adrian Carter, Associate Professor and NHMRC Career Development Fellow, Monash University, Australia