According to a national study by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 40 million Americans over the age of 12 are addicted to substances (alcohol, drugs, nicotine). Another 80 million are "risky substance users"--they use them in a way that threatens health and safety. Given these numbers--and the hope of cutting them down--should drug addiction be treated like a disease?
In order to address the ever-growing problem of addiction and try to establish rehabilitation, experts are weighing in. It's a complex debate: some argue that addiction is a choice while others say it's a disease.
Neuroscientist Marc Lewis--a former drug addict and author of Memoirs of an Addicted Brain--writes that addiction can act "like a disease," reports the Los Angeles Times:
"If you are tuned into the helplessness, the insidious, relentless growth of addiction, if you see addiction as something that takes over one's body, one's mind, maybe one's soul, then the disease model is going to be meaningful to you." The problem with that line of thinking, according to Lewis, is that it comes with the implication that "you can't do anything about it--at least not without help."
Meanwhile, Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the National Drug Control Policy, says that "addictive diseases" should be treated as public health issues--imploring for Americans to stop the stigma associated with addiction, and calling for community-based support programs:
"Our Nation's drug problem should be treated as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue. Too many laws and regulations that were established for the purpose of punishing or deterring drug use make no distinction between the person who continues to use drugs and the person who is on the pathway to recovery."
What do you think--should drug addiction be treated like a disease?
More on drugs:
* Well, Here's a Good Reason to NOT Spend Four Hours Smoking Super-Strength Pot
* How Drug Addiction Affects Your Health (and Your Looks): Shocking Before and After Photos
* Cocaine Is Already Scary, But Now It May Also Fry Your Skin