Work on female drinking and female drug and alcohol abuse is proliferating because interest and productivity in alcohol research has expanded. In this work, the editors' primary focus is on the abuse of alcohol, its biological effects, behavioral effects, abuses, and problems. This book updates where this field is at the moment. The first five chapters deal with basic issues of biology, epidemology, and anthropology. The next five chapters deal with substance abuse including antecedents, consequences, comorbidity, fetal effects, special populations, and illicit drug use. Two chapters which follow are concerned with related disorders, that is, smoking and eating disorders. The final chapters cover treatment and prevention.