[The drug scene during the past 10 years of experience and inquiries]

Drug dependence has been defined in 1964 as 'a state arriving from repeated administration of a drug on a periodic or continuous basis'. Its characteristics would vary with the agent involved, but partly with individual and social characteristics, too. Multiple interactions between various distal and/or immediate psychosocial antecedents with aversive and/or reinforcing consequences of drug use lead to a state of neuroadaptation. This term needs further explanation in the light of research regarding biological aspects (e.g. peptides, neurotransmitters, tetrahydroisoquinolines) as well as psychosocial theories (e.g. social learning, systems theory). In the field of rehabilitation one is struck by the relatively high rate of prosocial behavioral change looking on different samples surveyed. It seems that change takes place virtually irrespective of the type of treatment. Nevertheless diversification of rehabilitative procedures and study of comparative virtues of different strategies should be promoted.