FROM CRIMINALIZATION TO REHABILITATION: Abandoning “The War on Drugs” THESIS EDIT | Page 11

associated with drug addiction, and we focus simply on drug use as the behavior in question, it
seems unnatural to categorize it as a crime. When a heroin addict decides to inject himself, the
person sitting next to them is not directly affected by this behavior. The only person an addict
harms while committing this “crime” is themselves.
The associations made in the minds of the general public when someone is called a
“criminal,” and the social and moral implications that this title brings with it, are quickly and
subconsciously made. This makes it very difficult for most people who are not actively
contemplating this subject to want to empathize with and understand drug users. The moment
the term “criminal” is put on the table, the potential for sympathy and compassion
diminishes.
So, what is addiction? According to scientific evidence, addiction is a brain disease,
causing the victim to fall into a pattern of behavior that has severe negative consequences. This
disease keeps the addict stuck in this behavioral pattern, despite the addict’s awareness and
understanding of those negative consequences.
But when we say that addiction is a brain disease, what do we really mean? According to
addiction medicine specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky, a disease is “an abnormal physiologic process
brought on by a relationship between the genetics of the individual and the environment.”
Mechanistically, scientist Alan I. Leshner says, “the addicted brain is distinctly different from the
nonaddicted brain, as manifested by changes in brain metabolic activity, receptor availability,
gene expression, and responsiveness to environmental cues.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Drugs contain chemicals that tap
into the brain’s communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive,
and process information. There are at least two ways that drugs cause this disruption: (1) by