This paper discusses addiction as a “behavioral syndrome” that dictates a person’s motivation and alters their behavior to the point of abnormality because normal constraints disappear.
This paper discusses that psychology should play a major role in helping addicts. The paper points out that despite the War on Drugs, America is still the largest consumer of illegal drugs, such as cocaine, marijuana and heroin. The author concludes that more psychological treatment for addicts would not be any more expensive than the numerous other tactics that have been used and failed.
Drug addiction, especially in America, is a great concern today. America is still the largest consumer of illegal drugs, such as cocaine, marijuana and heroin, despite the War on Drugs. Between the casual users and frequent users, $60 billion dollars a year (Zill & Bergman 2000) is spent buying illegal drugs. The government stepped in with their campaign to stop drug use called America’s War on Drugs. The only thing this seemed to have accomplished is loading up America’s prisons and jails with drug offenders who are usually nonviolent. In 2000, the number of people incarcerated reached an astounding 2 billion.