FROM CRIMINALIZATION TO REHABILITATION: Abandoning “The War on Drugs” THESIS EDIT | Page 13

Cleopatra, Benjamin Franklin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Stephen King, Pablo Picasso, Jackson
Pollock, Russell Brand, George Carlin, and Buzz Aldrin. It seems safe to say that intelligence is
evidently not a factor in decreasing one’s susceptibility to drug addiction.
The argument that uneducated people often make about addicts, that “they just want to
feel good” in a hedonistic sense, is missing a fundamental understanding of what addiction really
is.
Dr. Deepak Chopra says that addiction works in a way that, “long after the addictive
substance becomes no longer pleasurable, the person is still hooked to the memory [of the
substance], and you cannot erase the memory; it has been grooved into the neurons [of the
addict’s brain]. This is why addiction is so powerful,” and why addicts will continue to use
drugs, even when it no longer feels good. To put it simply, addiction is a state in which one is
unable to stop doing something that one consciously no longer wants to be doing. The feelings
of pleasure and a lack of intelligence, therefore, are not the risk factors for a person
developing addiction, and they are also not the obstacles in the way of recovery.
So, what is it that causes addiction? When asked about why they take drugs, addicts often
talk about wanting to fill a deep, emotional void within themselves, coupled with an inability to
cope with the world both around and inside of them. From all of the research I have conducted,
and from all of the addicts I personally know and have spoken to, it is extremely clear to me that
addicts suffer from an emotional wound. What is frustrating about this is that the wound is not
visible to the naked eye. Similar to other mental illnesses, victims of the disease of addiction
suffer in a highly private manner, often leaving them feeling isolated by the experience. As a
result, it can be very difficult for friends and family to notice when a loved one is in addiction’s
grasp.