Addiction

Addiction is not a disease; it is a learning disorder. We learn to use drugs because they work great; that's how learning works. But we don't learn to stop using them when they stop working; that's the disorder.

Check out episode 28: Addiction for more about dopamine, tolerance, sensitization, the nature of pleasure, and how addiction happens. All blue text is hyperlinked to sources for this episode (Addiction).

For marijuana arrest rates by race and State, see "A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform."

For US crime clearance rates as reported by the FBI, see their data HERE.

For more on the DSM-5 definition of substance abuse disorder (addiction), check out this local (Colorado) Opioid Use Disorder checklist, or the DSM-5 criteria.

For more about dopamine's release related to music timing, check out this article in Nature and Neuroscience, or this one in The Journal of Neuroscience.

For more about the Pleasure of the Hunt and the Pleasure of the Feast, as discussed by Donald Klein, see Maia Szalavitz's book Unbroken Brain, or Peter Kramer's book, Listening to Prozac.

For more on the nature of Wanting versus Liking, and how they relate to addiction/Substance Abuse Disorder, see the work of Kent Berridge and Terry Robinson.

For more about the Learning Disorder model of addiction, the difference between liking and wanting, and ways to minimize your risk of addiction, check out Maia Szalavitz's incredible book Unbroken Brain.

For more on the history of the War on Drugs and addiction's relationship to social connections, check out Johann Hari's book, Chasing the Scream.