Placing substance abuse geographical perspectives on substance use and addiction

Abstract

This chapter discusses how the concept of place and related geographic methodologies has been used in understanding health and health care, and it suggests avenues of exploration for research on substance abuse. 'Place' provides a foundation for understanding how substance abuse behaviors, prevention, and treatment relate to place environments from the personal to the global scale. I describe three main areas of contribution: exploring geographic inequalities in health; understanding the associations between place environments and health; and analyzing disparities in health care access and location. Each of these topics is discussed, in turn, emphasizing important themes and recent developments in health/medical geography literature and their applicability to research on substance use and abuse. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.