THE BOTTOM LINE ON ADDICTION
The bottom line on
addiction is that anyone with a brain can get addicted to drugs. However, most
people don't, and there are a lot of reasons. First and foremost, if a person does not experiment with
addictive drugs, then she won't get
addicted. Second, if a person is mentally healthy, has a stable family and work life (including supportive and
non-drug-using peers), and has no
family history of substance abuse, she lacks some important risk factors and is less vulnerable. However, she
still has a brain, and she is not
immune to addiction. During the cocaine craze of the 1970s and 180s, plenty of constructive, highly educated,
well-employed professionals became
addicted to cocaine despite positive factors in their lives.
Finally, there may be some people for whom the
pleasurable experience of these drugs
is exceptionally high, and the drive to use the drugs is thus more compelling than for others. If these people do
not try drugs, this underlying quality
will not present a problem. However, if they have access to them, and if they do choose to use them,
they are at significant risk. It is no
accident that the rate of drug addiction among professionals in the United States is highest among medical
personnel, who have easy access to such drugs.
