This practical and timely book provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art guidance on how primary care clinicians can best care for patients with substance use disorders.  The book covers the major drugs of abuse, as well as the more recent ones, detailing the biology of various addictions and all dimensions of clinical diagnosis and management.   It is organized in four parts: (1) The Basics, (2) Psychoactive Substance Dependencies, (3) Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Relapse, and the Family, and (4) Special Groups.  Part I, The Basics, consists of an overview, the various definitions of substance dependence, and the pharmacology of addictive substances.  Chapter 1, Overview, is an introductory chapter that covers material common to the entire field of substance dependence.  Chapter 2 covers the various definitions of substance dependence, and Chapter 3 reviews the pharmacology of addictive substances.