Substance abuse is the primary preventable factor in the three leading causes of death in women: heart disease, stroke, and cancer. This comprehensive and accessible book documents the physical and emotional effects of substance abuse in girls and women, explores the role of the advertising and entertainment industries in popularizing various substances of abuse, and discusses the way America responds to this enormous health problem. Covering a broad range of substances - nicotine, alcohol, prescription and illicit drugs - the book addresses the unique reasons that girls and women smoke and abuse alcohol and drugs, and their risks of abuse, along with opportunities for intervention at each stage of life. It provides the most current information about the use of prescription and club drugs, key warning signs of addiction in girls and women, and options for prevention and treatment. Along with technical analysis and research results, this book includes historical anecdotes and testimonies from recovering women, including actress Jamie Lee Curtis, AIDS activist Mary Fisher, "Law and Order" star S. Epatha Merkerson, and former Texas Governor Ann Richards. Incorporating more than a decade of extensive research and reflecting a variety of perspectives, "Women under the Influence" will help women, health care professionals, educators, and policy makers understand the scope of substance abuse in girls and women - our mothers, daughters, grandmothers, sisters, and friends - the urgency of responding to the problem, the key points of intervention, and potential roads to recovery.