Professor Shane Darke’s new book, The Life of the Heroin User: Typical beginnings, trajectories and outcomes, should be required reading for politicians and policy makers, said Dr Geoff Gallop, who recently launched the work at the NDARC Annual Symposium.
The book is the first to comprehensively paint a complete picture of the natural history of heroin use and the lifecycle of the heroin user from birth until death.
Chapters address each stage of the user's life, including childhood, routes to use, the development of dependence, problems arising from addiction, death, and options for treatment and prevention.
Drawing on over two decades of experience in the field of heroin research, Professor Darke examines major theoretical approaches to the development of opiate dependence and the efficacy of treatment options for opiate dependence.
Professor Gallop, Director of the Graduate School of Government at the University of Sydney and former Premier of Western Australia, describes the book as social science at its best.
“However, it is social science in the service of humanity,” said Professor Gallop. “We need to know these things, says Darke, because we should do all we can to improve and save lives.”
Professor Gallop's opinion piece is available to read online at WA Today's website.
Interested readers can purchase Shane Darke's book via Cambridge's website.
