Although initial drug use is voluntary, addiction is not. As with any other brain disease, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, research on animals is essential for understanding how addiction occurs, and how it can be prevented or treated. This research usually addresses a drug's physiological affects on the body, the critical changes in the brain as a result of drug use, and the manner in which these brain changes can be reversed as effective treatments for addiction. This research also explores the biological mechanisms that make some individuals more susceptible to becoming addicted and have a harder time breaking their addictions once developed. The very definition of addiction is that the addict continues using the substance even after recognizing its harmful effects.
Money spent on addiction research is a drop in the health-care bucket.
By contrast, consider that in 1992 drug abuse had a cost to society of 165.5 billion. It is absurd to suggest that money spent on animal research is at the root of our health-care predicament. In addition, hard-line animal activists tend to use arguments that contradict each other. On the one hand, they assert that humans are responsible for medical conditions brought on by their own unhealthy habits, such as smoking, eating fatty foods or doing drugs. At the same time, they complain that animal research diverts money away from treating these people.