Brains of drug addicts inherently abnormal: study

Addicts are known to have poor impulse control.

taking a trip for coffee to Leidseplein for this years class reunion holidays.

We do not understand this but If it ( the drug) is good in general ...

you can recommend us a shot before the Breakfast.

miyazawa. I have no clue about what you would like to say. Please post again.

which drugs? different drugs have different effects and affect the body and brain differently

I can't read this article til I have something with caffeine in it.

After growing up in the 70's and seeing certain people become addicts while others dabbled and easily walked away I came to the conclusion that certain people were predisposed to addictions. This is why I've also always felt that people who think that using Marijuana will lead to using harder drugs were incorrect. Those that are more predisposed to addiction will often go on to harder drugs.... those that are not often stop there. Its more in one's chemical makeup than those they're ingesting.

Drugs are bad... Mmmmkay?

On another note, there was a study that linked higher IQ to increased likelihood to drug experimentation. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-15/higher-iq-linked-to-illegal-drug-use-in-adulthood-study-finds.html

@Ted Barrera: I think there may be credence to that too but on a half and half basis. Two types tried the real hard drugs. One type was just the plain out crazy guy or girl that was up for anything and the other was an intellectual type that enjoyed risk and was curious about the effects of certain drugs. They often were careful on the dosage. Steve Jobs experimented and I'll bet a lot of your more creative intelligent individuals in the states probably experimented.

On another note, there was a study that linked higher IQ to increased likelihood to drug experimentation

I believe strongly in this, if you are intelligent enough to see the world for what it is. You want something to help escape it. The chemical make up of our mind probably decides whether we go for the instant gratification of drugs, or work hard to achieve some possible far away goal that makes the world more bearable (stable Job and income, family with 1.8 kids, 1.5 ex wifes, , big dinners, expensive wines, designer furniture, station wagon and a sedan, iPhone, a Shiny Laptop with edges so sharp you could shave your self with it, a couple of hundred Facebook friends and an equal amount of twitter followers?).

Come to think of it it's a wonder we are not all shooting up on a daily basis.

But then there are children's smiles, puppies pulling on your socks, a cold beer after working in the garden on a hot day, wind in your face on a mountain top, racing down hill on a pair of skis with edges so sharp you could shave your self with them.

Good news because studies like these will lessen the stigma of addictions and will allow more people to seek help. Bad news because people who commit crimes on drugs will blame it on their brain!

and some how this is news...

Thank you scientists for providing hard evidence of what most intelligent people already knew.

Hopefully this will pave the way for the most unintelligent politicians and their unintelligent lobbyists to make drugs legal for those of us not hindered by our genes, which is to say most of us.

I once saw a very interesting British documentary on alcohol. In it they gave a bunch of monkeys access to alcohol through an accessible drip bottle. They found that about 25% of the monkeys tried it once and then didn't bother to go back (they didn't care for it), 50% went back on occasion, but didn't really abuse their access, and the remaining 25% went nuts for the stuff. I wonder if this isn't in part the same gene causing this kind of result. It seems to mirror human consumption. Great documentary.

Its not really that a person gets predisposed to addiction, its the fact that each drug affects different metabolisms differently. I know most of my family should not do any type of mind altering drug including MJ because if done long enough the brains chemistry WILL change.

2 of my aunts were addicts, one was adopted into our family and she was able to walk away from addiction after some counseling. My 2nd aunt (blood related) was unable to walk away and really truly got messed up mentally as in her brain chemistry changed. She now has to stay on medication in order not to act crazy, but once she stops taking her meds or misses them she really does not think straight at all. So while people can advocate for the legalization of all drugs, they'd better get ready for the consequences of those that become addicts, or changes in personality due to the long term after effects.

If the "inherently abnormal" part is a predisposition to drug addiction and if we don't know who has this predisposition, then it makes sense to stay away from potentially harmful addictive substances. Of course, if part of the abnormality is poor impulse control, then there doesn't seem to be a lot of hope.

@HonestDictator

Its not really that a person gets predisposed to addiction, its the fact that each drug affects different metabolisms differently.

I don't think this is what the study was about. They said “An individual’s predisposition to become addicted to stimulant drugs may be mediated by brain abnormalities linked to impaired self-control.” This is about ALL types of control over ones behavior. It sounds like you believe that it's a metabolism problem and not a brain/gene abnormality. I'm curious what study you did or at least what study you are referencing.

If all drugs were made legal you would still have the same kind of addicts, probably a few more. I really don't think many more people would be doing these drugs anyway, because they are already accessible. The usage might even go down for some IMO, just like tobacco product usage has gone down with this infusion of education about the effects of tobacco on the body and mind.

This study seems like a step in the right direction for understanding treatment for individuals who are addicted or get addicted to anything. It should lead to a better way of preventing or helping these people from continuing any unwanted and/or destructive behavior.