Understanding Drug Addiction

Many people still believe that drug addiction is a moral failing, but now we know from research that drugs actually change the neurochemistry of the brain in ways that affect behaviour. Research has shown that while the original choice to take a drug is voluntary, use over time causes anatomical changes in parts of the brain that control decision-making and self-control, while simultaneously sending pleasure signals that feel like a reward for taking drugs.

Drug addiction has both genetic and environmental causes; According to a report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the genetic component accounts for 40 to 60 percent of a person's vulnerability, but genetic susceptibility is not inevitability. Being prone to addiction isn't a matter of having a particular gene or not but rather of having multiple genes that interact to produce vulnerability.