Why Addiction is a Disease

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Addiction is a disease that affects by ten percent of Americans but countless others, including family and friends, are devastated by it. Addiction is not a choice that a person can make; rather the disease takes away people’s ability to make conscious choice. Science has advanced to show exactly how drugs affect the brain chemically, proving that it is a disease and not a moral failing. Addiction is a disease and should be treated through rehabilitation and community based support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), not imprisonment, and the state and federal governments should increase funding and programs for prevention and treatment.

Addiction is a disease that causes many neurological effects on the brain. In fact, addiction is included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which is the standard reference for psychiatric illnesses (DSM-5) and it affects ten percent of the population (Understanding). Most drugs release chemicals that effects the mid-brain and changes its chemical make up. Specifically, nerve cells in the brain release dopamine when humans engage in pleasurable activities, like eating good food, exercise, and sex (Understanding). This causes the person to seek out that pleasurable activity again and again (Substance Abuse). Drugs, from alcohol and marijuana to heroin, also cause the brain to release dopamine, but faster and stronger than most activities. (Mandal) With repeated use, the addict becomes accustomed to this stronger, quicker pleasure sensation and can no longer feel the milder pleases of normal activity. In this way, the brain becomes “broken,” and the addict continues to seek that good feeling only experienced with drugs (Substanc...

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...ten percent of them become addicted to that drug and try harder drugs (abovetheinfluence/faq). Teen drug use is overlooked in most households as normal but most addicts start using drugs in their teens and carry it with them to adulthood. Therefore permitting it is risking addiction in their own children or the other children they are allowing to drink and even smoke marijuana in their house. Letting kids with peanut allergies eat peanuts in your house endangers people’s lives just like addiction. Parents should be able to trust that their kids are safe in someone’s home, permitting drug use sends a message that it is ok and overlooks that ten percent of people that will become addicts. Families who do have an addict suffer from having things stolen, dealing with legal cases, losing time at work to deal with addict, emotional damage and fear of losing their child.

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