Internationally, narcotic addiction is associated with a variety of social problems, from crime among drug users to public health crises. There has been much prior research on addiction as a medical, psychological, and public health problem, but less is actually known about the social contexts of IV-drug users and the risks they take in accommodating their addictions. Narcotic Addicts in Ukraine takes us into the lives of Ukrainian intravenous drug users by way of data collected from 673 self-identified addicts. It examines ways in which Ukrainian addicts access drugs and the social conditions in which they use them. Do they grow their own poppies, purchase poppy straw, or are they dependent upon an immediately purchasable and injectable product? Do they finance their dependency criminally, or do they combine criminal and non-criminal methods? In Narcotic Addicts in Ukraine we learn about how members of this special population engage in their addictions, presenting challenges for families, friendships, employment, and law enforcement.

Gregory Adams earned his PhD at University of Massachusetts Amherst and is a member of the Sociology Department at Southern Connecticut State University. His research on social contexts of narcotic addiction was supported by a Fulbright Fellowship and conducted in cooperation with the Office of Narcology of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.