Conclusion
Conclusion
The main conclusions from the chapters are drawn. Substance use and gambling indeed permeate our daily lives, and the current way these behaviours are handled is neither integrated nor effective in optimizing well-being. As a consequence, these behaviours incur considerable health and social harm in current societies, leading to huge economic costs. Substance use and gambling should be seen as a continuum, with addiction just being one way to frame one end of this continuum, heavy use. If seen this way, it becomes clear that shifts in the distribution of behaviours can be very effective in reducing social and health harm. Policies should not just be focused on particular behaviours, but on the optimal mix of distributions which could reduce the maximum harm.
Keywords: substance use, behaviours, gambling, harm, continuum
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