Hungry for the next fix: Behind the relentless, misguided search for a medical cure for addiction.
Reason › Vol. 34 Nbr. 1, May 2002
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Hungry for the next fix: Behind the relentless, misguided search for a medical cure for addiction.
As DIRECTOR OF the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Alan Leshner toured the country with a PowerPoint presentation featuring brain scans. The show was a slightly more sophisticated version of the Partnership for a DrugFree America's famous ad showing an egg frying in a pan. As he flashed magnetic resonance images (MRIs) on a screen, Leshner would say, in effect, "This is your brain on drugs."
Leshner's message was threefold. First, certain drugs are inherently addictive. Second, scientists have discovered the neurochemical processes through which these drugs cause addiction. Third, that understanding will make it possible to develop drugs that cure or prevent addiction. Leshner's traveling PowerPoint show epitomized NIDA's reductionist approach to drug abuse: Take a brain, add a chemical, and voila, you've got substance dependence. Leshner left...See the full content of this document
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