Addiction and the addicted

Abstract

In this article I would like to define and outline what addiction means to the public; outline some of the physiological evidence which tends to explain addiction; examine some of the sociological and environmental problems leading to addiction; examine the attitudes of the individuals involved; outline the treatments available to addicts; and finally to examine society's attitude toward the addict, in the hope of possibly clarifying some of the misunderstandings perpetuated toward the addict and to give us a better understanding of the overall picture. There are an estimated 60,000 narcotic addicts in the United States alone. This is a conservative estimate based on known addicts. The cure rate of this addiction is about two percent on the national level with percentages increasing to 18 and 33 percent in the specialised centers of Lexington, Fort Worth and Los Angeles. In Canada there are an estimated 5,000 addicts with similar "cure rates". What is addiction and why does it occur? Let us first try to consider why some people may desire the effects of a narcotic drug. In the past few decades there has been a sharp upswing in the number of adolescents who use narcotic substances, singularly or in a group. The chief substances that are being abused are marihuana and recently, glue sniffing has reached a high degree of sophistication among adolescents. The main physiological effect of marihuana and glue is similar to that of alcohol The reason for the abuse of marihuana and similar narcotics has been attributed to undue curiosity on the part of the individual and the availability of these substances. The drug effects upon the body are interpreted as pure pleasure.