Geography And Drug Addiction
by Douglas Richardson /
2008 / English / PDF
9.5 MB Download
Making Connections: Geography and Drug Addiction Geography involves
making connections – connections in our world among people and
places, cultures, human activities, and natural processes. It
involves understa- ing the relationships and ‘connections’ between
seemingly disparate or unrelated ideas and between what is and what
might be. Geography also involves connecting with people. When I
rst encountered an extraordinarily vibrant, intelligent, and
socially engaged scientist at a private d- ner several years ago, I
was immediately captivated by the intensity of her passion to
understand how and why people become addicted to drugs, and what
could be done to treat or prevent drug addiction. Fortunately, she
was willing to think beyond the bounds of her own discipline in her
search for answers. Our conversation that evening, which began with
her research on fundamental biochemical processes of drug addiction
in the human body, evolved inevitably to an exploration of the ways
in which research on the geographical context of drug addiction
might contribute to the better understanding of etiology of
addiction, its diffusion, its interaction with geographically
variable environmental, social, and economic factors, and the
strategies for its treatment and prevention. This fascinating
woman, I soon learned, was Nora Volkow, the Director of the
National Institute on Drug Abuse as well as the granddaughter of
Leon Trotsky.
Making Connections: Geography and Drug Addiction Geography involves
making connections – connections in our world among people and
places, cultures, human activities, and natural processes. It
involves understa- ing the relationships and ‘connections’ between
seemingly disparate or unrelated ideas and between what is and what
might be. Geography also involves connecting with people. When I
rst encountered an extraordinarily vibrant, intelligent, and
socially engaged scientist at a private d- ner several years ago, I
was immediately captivated by the intensity of her passion to
understand how and why people become addicted to drugs, and what
could be done to treat or prevent drug addiction. Fortunately, she
was willing to think beyond the bounds of her own discipline in her
search for answers. Our conversation that evening, which began with
her research on fundamental biochemical processes of drug addiction
in the human body, evolved inevitably to an exploration of the ways
in which research on the geographical context of drug addiction
might contribute to the better understanding of etiology of
addiction, its diffusion, its interaction with geographically
variable environmental, social, and economic factors, and the
strategies for its treatment and prevention. This fascinating
woman, I soon learned, was Nora Volkow, the Director of the
National Institute on Drug Abuse as well as the granddaughter of
Leon Trotsky.