Pubdate: Tue, 02 Oct 2012
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Authors: Daniel Heffner and Dr. David Moore
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n486/a06.html

BARBARA KAY IS WRONG ABOUT ADDICTION ...

Re: A 'Disease' Of Choice, Barbara Kay, Sept. 26.

Barbara Kay expresses some dangerous misconceptions about the state 
of scientific knowledge regarding the causes of addiction, as well as 
the goals of harm reduction activities such as Insite in Vancouver.

Activities such as obtaining food and sex stimulate the pleasure 
centres of the brain. This is good, as it ensures we engage in tasks 
that allow us to survive. There is clear evidence that psychoactive 
drugs, legal and illegal, also stimulate these parts of the brain. In 
susceptible individuals, these substances change how the brain works, 
essentially causing it to seek these drugs for survival. But what 
makes someone "susceptible"?

Environmental factors, such as being raised in a chaotic home or 
being abused, together with biological or genetic risk factors, 
determine one's risk of addiction. As a UBC medical student, I see 
many patients turn to substances as a way to cope with trauma in 
their lives. No one "chooses" to become an addict any more than those 
who suffer from sexual and physical abuse as children choose to be abused.

By stating that addicts simply need to "choose" to stop using, Ms. 
Kay stigmatizes those who are dependent on substances. The answer is 
not, as she puts it "obvious," but rather more complex.

Daniel Heffner, Vancouver; co-signed by Dr. David Moore, BC Centre 
for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom