Shane Darke is Professor at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

'This little volume achieved what its author intended to do; summarize the lifecycle of the heroin abuser in a well written, informative, and readable text … this is worthwhile reading for everybody interested in substance abuse and for all trainees and clinicians in the field.' Richard Balon, Annals of Clinical Psychiatry

• Preface; 1. Addict 'careers': the lifecycle of the opioid user; 2. Parents and childhood; 3. Early teenage years: the onset of substance use; 4. The mid-teens: the commencement of opioid use; 5. The twenties and thirties: the polydrug-using opioid user; 6. The drug treatment cycle: remission and relapse; 7. The older opioid user: the forties and beyond; 8. Death: rates and causes; 9. Conclusions: an inevitable life and death?; Index.

Shane Darke is Professor at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

'This little volume achieved what its author intended to do; summarize the lifecycle of the heroin abuser in a well written, informative, and readable text … this is worthwhile reading for everybody interested in substance abuse and for all trainees and clinicians in the field.' Richard Balon, Annals of Clinical Psychiatry

• Preface; 1. Addict 'careers': the lifecycle of the opioid user; 2. Parents and childhood; 3. Early teenage years: the onset of substance use; 4. The mid-teens: the commencement of opioid use; 5. The twenties and thirties: the polydrug-using opioid user; 6. The drug treatment cycle: remission and relapse; 7. The older opioid user: the forties and beyond; 8. Death: rates and causes; 9. Conclusions: an inevitable life and death?; Index.