One of the things is that in adapting to the sledgehammer of drugs, the brain loses its intrinsic ability to find meaning in life, to find pleasure. In essence, then, we suspect that a successful treatment would give something back to the addicted person. But in the meantime, environmental changes, including spiritual activities, group therapy, give something back to the addict. We would also hypothesize, and I think this has also been borne out, that therapies that are more punitive, or take everything away from the addict or restrict their access to drugs and give them nothing back are rarely, if ever, successful. It is time for questions.
Smoking seems to be somehow in a different category.
From a scientific point of view, this legal drug, nicotine, leads to more unnecessary deaths than any other drug. And in the grain, it is functioning in exactly the same way. I was fascinated by your reference to exercise and its role in treatment. People struggling with addiction are typically in poor health at the time that they decide to give it up or make a change. They have withdrawn from their social support systems or their social support systems have withdrawn from them.