Part 1 opens with a chapter that provides essential information about cocaine, its chemical qualities, and social influences. Another chapter, 'Understanding Addiction,' provides a sampling of the major theoretical positions that attempt to explain addiction in general. A chapter on cocaine and the media focuses on how the media have influenced and been influenced by perceptions of cocaine. The concluding chapter in Part 1 examines how people have stopped a variety of addictions, including cocaine, without structured treatment. It establishes the self-help phenomenon and reviews related current evidence regarding it. Part 2, which addresses quitting cocaine, opens with a chapter on initiation into cocaine use and the shift that occurs when users become abusers. This begins a series of chapters that illustrate in depth the oral histories of cocaine quitters. Quitting strategies and tactics often used by successful quitters are described, followed by an examination of how new quitters manage to prevent relapse. A summary of the lessons from successful quitters outlines two stages: the emergency of addiction (initiation, activity produces positive consequences, and adverse consequences develop) and the evolution of quitting (turning points, active quitting begins, and relapse prevention). The lessons are applied to other aspects of drug treatment and prevention. 4 figures, 4 tables, chapter references, subject index.