UPS AND DOWNS: Drugging and Duping

Dr. Rice (Suffolk County, New York, Addiction & Drug Abuse Center) has written a book at a far more advanced level of information and insight than say Donald Louria's -- isolating both the behavioral (""psychoanalytic""?) and chemophysiologic effects of the ups (they can damage the brain) and downs (they addict). There is some interesting material on the kind of people who take what (up people need downs) and on the sources of the drags(organic or synthetic) but the primary value of the book is in the description of each drug from cocaine (""the supreme head"") on through alcohol, nicotine, the detoxifiers, and. . . don't try Sominex and sleep, or some of the other over-the-counter preparations which too can be dangerous. As for marihuana, Dr. Rice takes the wisely conservative position -- the research evaluation as yet is incomplete. Some of this is difficult, certainly too difficult for the ordinary reader (""The drugs could be expected to attract methyl groups away from their ectopic locales"" etc.), but the book makes a great deal of evidence available and is stringently incisive. His remedial program at the close starts at the top -- with the drug companies (by name) who should suspend some of their products and the physicians who indiscriminately pass out prescriptions.