Simply put, advances in science, particularly over the past decade, have virtually revolutionized our understanding of drug abuse and addiction. We have learned, for example, that although initial drug use is a voluntary, and therefore a preventable behavior, drug addiction is in fact an illness caused by the effects of prolonged drug use on the brain. Addiction is a chronic illness, similar to other chronic diseases, characterized for many people by occasional relapses to drug use, even after successful treatment experiences. And it is important to state at the outset that we have numerous effective, science-based and tested treatments in our clinical toolbox.
Addiction is a treatable, though chronic and relapsing, disease.
And I should point out that we know a great amount about how drugs modify brain function to produce addiction. In fact, I frequently say we know more about drugs and the brain than we do about any other aspect of brain function. For example, scientists have identified and cloned the receptors in the brain for every major drug of abuse. They have identified the cellular sites where drugs like cocaine, marijuana, and opiates bind to the brain. And in the last two years it has become clear that although each drug of abuse affects the brain in a particular, individual way, they all share some common brain pathways, which further suggests that there is a common brain essence to addiction.