In this important contribution to the study of drugs and addiction Illana Mountian critically analyses discourses surrounding drugs, drug treatment, and drug prevention, and develops alternative conceptual and methodological perspectives to current psychological approaches to drug use.

Introduction 1. Conceptualising the Social Imaginary 2. Historical Discourses of Drugs 3. Discourses of Addiction 4. Drug Use and the Social Imaginary 5. Gender in the Social Imaginary of Drugs 6. Drug Policies.

Ilana Mountian is an Honorary Research Fellow and a member of the Discourse Unit at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. She also currently holds a postdoctoral research position at the Universidade de São Paolo, Brazil. Her research practice involves the application of inter-disciplinary perspectives, including critical theories, gender studies, post-colonial studies and psychoanalysis, to the study of drug use, immigration and gender.