Introduction: Researching drugs and society

Toby Seddon

Chapter 1 in Research Handbook on Drugs and Society, 2026, pp 2-10 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter introduces the Handbook, providing an overview of its structure, scope and overarching intellectual ethos. It outlines the remit of the Handbook to present the state-of-the-art of our knowledge concerning ‘drugs’ (those substances subject to international controls, that is, ‘prohibition’) in societies around the world, with a general emphasis on social science knowledge. It sets out the historical background and context for the study of drugs and society, describes the structure and organisation of the Handbook, and makes the case for the value of the Handbook's intellectual pluralism using the illustrative example of the opiate/opioid overdose crisis. Lastly, it offers some guidance for different ways of navigating and using the Handbook.

Keywords: Drugs; Society; Interdisciplinary; Social science; History (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781802209136
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