Common ground in therapy of substance abuse

Literature concerning the treatment and basis of substance abuse includes large contributions from clinicians and psychologists. Reviews of pharmacotherapies for substance abuse usually classify therapies on a clinical or behavioral basis and this is often complicated by the variety of abused substances and the multiple uses to which individual therapies are put. In contrast, this review looks at products from a pharmacological perspective and identifies common ground evident in pharmacotherapies for all substance abuse. A simple working framework for classifying approaches to drug development is suggested, and four distinct pharmacological approaches applicable both to established and potential products are identified.