This book, on the nature and problems of inappropriate drug use by older adults, provides researchers and health practitioners with an up-to-date survey and overview of the literature on drug use, misuse, and abuse among the elderly. The volume provides abstracts of 100 selected scientific articles on the major topic areas in the field. The bibliography represents a fairly comprehensive listing of the United States literature with some relevant foreign materials. The abstracted publications, primarily scientific journal articles, are divided into eight sections preceded by a summary of the topic area presented in that section. The summaries highlight the research and related literature on that topic. The eight topics are: (1) an overview of drugs and the elderly; (2) epidemiology of drug use; (3) illegal drug use, older addicts, and the maturing-out hypothesis; (4) misuse of legal drugs; (5) pharmacology and therapeutics; (6) alcohol use and abuse; (7) consequences of drug use, misuse and abuse; and (8) prevention and treatment programs. (Author/JAC)