Addiction is a disease; it is preventable and treatable. It is not a moral failing. As with other illnesses, the approaches most likely to work are based on science not on faith, tradition, contrition, or wishful thinking. Those facts are the foundation of The Thirteenth Step, a new paradigm for preventing drug abuse and treating addiction and the mental illnesses that usually accompany it. Based on the latest research in psychology, neurology, and medicine, The Thirteenth Stepis a radically different approach than what currently passes for prevention and treatment. Sheff has talked to scientists, social workers, addicts, and their families to find out what can work, and just as important, how addiction itself works. The Thirteenth Stepoffers clear, cogent counsel for addicts and their loved ones no matter what stage of the illness they're in. But it is also a book for all of us a powerful rethinking of one of the greatest public health challenges of our time.