Steelman, 1

Dawn Steelman
Dorhout, Kenneth
Engl 1001-024
November 16, 2016

Addiction
Addiction is not prejudiced. It does not discriminate. Addiction has become an
extremely widespread issue in many communities around the U.S. Over 20 million
Americans over the age of twelve have an addiction (addictioncenter.com) Addiction
can affect anyone, no matter race, financial status, or religious beliefs. A child does not
say I want to be an addict when I grow up. Some people will never become affected
by addiction and will continue with their biased opinions towards addicts. Others who
are affected directly by addiction will have a different outlook and might make excuses
for addiction. Whether addiction is a disease or a choice has always been argued and
will continue to be an argument.
Addicts are frowned upon, even if a person says I am a recovering addict.
Judgments are instantly made. Why? How? When? These questions will always be asked
by a person who has never been in an addicts shoes. It is hard to understand what
urges someone to make the decision to try that drug for the first time. If the outcome is
known and the decision being made should be common sense, why make it? There are
many people that have never tried a single drug in their lives. What causes anyone to
want to? These are questions that will always be asked and the answers and opinions
will always be different.

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Marc Lewis, who wrote the book The Biology of Desire, argues addiction is not a
disease. He believes that doctors, medical researchers, and health policy makers have
come up with the assumption that addiction is a disease because that is how the
medical field usually explain all problems (Lewis, 2015). If there is something wrong
with you it must be an illness or a disease. Lewis also believes that arguing that
addiction is a disease is influenced by money. He states that the multimillion-dollar
price tags of sophisticated research programs are funded by mainstream medical
institutions, like the National Institute of Health (NIH) (Lewis, 2015). Lewis believes it is
easier to conduct research of cells of the body and link it to addiction being a disease
than other research on reasons why a person decides to use drugs.
An article written by Bill Stronach and Stephen Luntz called What is Addiction?
might give someone a different outlook on addiction. They give examples of addiction
such as someone being addicted to drinking soda or drinking coffee. These are still
types of addictions. The article sheds light on reasons why an addict becomes or stays
an addict. For example, if someone is addicted to coffee and quits, there will be physical
withdrawals, such as headaches causing that person to want to continue to drink coffee.
The idea of quitting a drug and having physical withdrawals may be a similar worry for
an addict.
There are many reasons believed why addicts use drugs. One reason is the
pleasure the individual receives from using a drug. The brain releases a chemical called
dopamine which causes the person to feel high (drugabuse.gov, 2016). For example,
a great number of people that take prescription medicines after a surgery do not like
this feeling, others enjoy it and want it again. This chemical can also give the person
energy or even feel more passionate or love towards something or someone. The more
a person uses a drug, the less dopamine the brain makes, this causes the addict to need

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more of the drug each time (drugabuse.gov, 2016). This causes the person to want the
drug more causing the person to become addicted to the high.
Addicts have said, I didnt wake up one day and say I want to be an addict. It
has been said that genes can play a big role in addiction. According to the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, a persons genes is about half of the reason a person becomes
an addict (drugabuse.gov, 2016). Also, according to ADDICTIONS and RECOVERY.org, an
addicts child is eight times more likely to become an addict than a child that has no
addiction in their families (addictionsandrecovery.org). Being around drugs from an early
age can lead to someone trying drugs at some point. Also, the emotional effect of being
in a home of drugs can lead to individuals later turning to drugs themselves. A great
number of addicts will tell you they grew up in Al-Anon meetings because their parents
were addicts or recovering addicts. According to al-anon. org, the Al-Anon meetings are
to help children cope and hopefully reduce the chance children of addicts will become
addicts themselves. A high percentage of children who have attended Al-Anon
meetings still become addicts.
There are always individuals who will argue that addiction is not a disease but a
choice. For example, liver disease, can be developed unintentionally or by bad
decisions, such as alcohol and drug use. Whether a person developed liver disease
unintentionally or by bad decisions, does not change the fact that it is a disease. The
same with addiction becoming addicted to something can begin by making a bad
decision but can still be considered a disease. When a person has surgery and is
prescribed pain killers, there is always the possibility of that person becoming addicted
to the pain killers. Also, individuals with bad backs who suffer from chronic pain may
need to take pain killers daily and may become addicted to those pain killers. Those
people did not intentionally become addicts by making a bad decision to try drugs, but

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once those individuals tolerance becomes high and their brain produces less and less
dopamine, the individual is now addicted and can be considered an addict.
David Lafferty is a perfect example of addiction being a disease rather than a
choice. David had completed his bachelors degree, one year of his masters, and was
two and a half years into his PH. D for respiratory medicine when addiction changed his
life forever (drugfree.org). It all began simply when David began having migraines and
started going to the medical doctor at his school. Davids doctor prescribed him 6, 647
controlled substances (drugfree.org). Being in the medical field, David clearly knew all
about addiction. David did not become an addict by making a poor decision to take a
drug to become high, he simply needed them. Once David started taking his
prescriptions, his body then became addicted physically and emotionally. It took David
nine years to become sober and during those nine years David was blackballed from
his profession, lost his family, friends, and became homeless (drugfree.org). Once
David realized he had had enough he spent a year in rehab and finally got his life back.
He is now an advocate for other addicts. Although he is no longer practicing respiratory
medicine that he had spent fifteen years of his life doing, he is happy, healthy, sober,
and wants to help others to understand how easy it is to become an addict and how
addiction can begin innocently and unintentionally.
There is always a high chance for an addict to relapse. Whether it is stress
related, poor willpower, or peer pressure. According to the NIDA, it is estimated that 40
to 50 percent of addicts relapse at least once (drugabuse.gov). Using drugs
permanently changes the brain and how a person thinks and reacts to normal
circumstances for the rest of their lives. If an addict has committed felonies under the
influence and not in their right mindset, it will be hard for that person the find a job.
Even though the addict is in recovery the stress and feeling of failure could simply be
reason enough for that person to turn back to drugs. There are options for addicts to

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stay sober. There are medications to help with the pain of withdrawal that addicts are
initially afraid of and stay using drugs because of that fear. There are recovery groups
such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous to help decrease the risk of
relapse. Also, behavioral therapy that was once just used for alcohol addiction has now
been said to help with drug addiction (drugabuse.gov.) Although the changes that are
made to the brain while using drugs are permanent, there is hope for addicts to become
sober and addicts need support and understanding to help them stay sober.
Drug addiction will always be argued that it is the persons decision and it is a
poor one. Drug addicts will always be judged poorly and disgust people who have never
been affected by drugs. Some people have bad influences such as their parents or
siblings that will lead them to making that first mistake and trying drugs for the first
time. Yes, we all make our own decisions but once a person has made the bad choice to
try drugs, most of the time their lives will never be the same. There are always the
young kids making poor decisions, but there are the cases where prescription drugs are
needed and with that addiction follows. Drug addiction is a disease of the brain and
needs to be looked at differently. A disease always must have a beginning whether it is
liver disease, cancer, or drug addiction so therefore drug addiction needs to be
considered a disease and understood and supported more.

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Works Cited
www.drugfree.org/stories-of-hope/hopkins-homeless-true-story-prescription-drugaddiction/ From

Hopkins to Homeless: My True Story of Prescription Drug

Addiction. Loffert, David, December 5, 2014. Web.

https://www.addictioncenter.com/addiction/addiction-statistics/ Web.
https://www.drugabuse.gov/ National Institute on Drug Abuse, Web.

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http://www.addictionsandrecovery.org/ Web.
http://site.ebrary.com.proxy.librairies.uc.edu.lib/cincinnati/detail.action?docId=11065772
The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction Is Not a Disease. Marc, Lewis, July, 2015. Book
http://search.proquest.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/docview/220296750?pqorigsite=summon&accountid=2909 What Is Addiction Stronach, Bill, Luntz,
Stephen. Issues 74 (Mar, 2006) Journal Article
http://al-anon.org/?gclid=CPfb-9re5NACFYETgQodfpYE-Q