Many psychological studies, including twin case studies, have been used to research the origins of drug addiction. By using twin studies, psychologists and researchers such as Guze et al (1967) and Cotton (1979), have been able to determine the origins of drug addiction and concluded what factors can lead to someone becoming addicted to drugs. .
It has been shown that drug abuse runs in families. Psychologists will tend to use twin studies for analyzing the origins of addictive behaviors. Monozygotic twins are identical twins that hold exact copies of each other's genes and dizygotic twins don't look alike but share 50% of their genes. Using twins, researchers can also determine whether these genetic factors also influence the earlier stages of the addictive process and whether they are genetic influences specific to each psychoactive substance5. However, it was concluded that the experiment's results on the twins' possibility of addiction could be manipulated by the twins' gender. So up to date there are two case studies that can be considered accurate when it comes to their results: Pedersen (1981)6, and Tsuang et al. (1996)6. .
The obsessive addiction of prescription medication such as tranquilizers and sleeping pills has been said to be genetically provoked. (Pedersen, 1981)7 While these drugs are considered to be pharmacologically similar, some evidence for drug specificity was reported. The experiment's results showed that the heritability estimate of tranquilizers was of 0.28 but there didn't seem to be any heritability for the sleeping pills. It was estimated that the magnitude of genetic and environmental influence was estimated on lifetime abuse of the drug. (Pedersen, 1981)7. .
The state of Minnesota has been known for the use of its twins for psychological research studies to be able to gather concrete findings for experiments. In 1991, researcher Pickens took a sample of 392 twins (188 pairs) who were then interviewed to evaluate drug and alcohol use and dependence and related psychiatric circumstances.
Drug trade is twice as big as the motor vehicle industry. ... The drug trade has evolved into a complicated business. ... Distribution is most common in the country of the drug's origin. ... The main countries that these drugs are coming ! ... It fuels the ever growing addiction Americans have for these deadly substances, it cost our government millions to fight, and it ruins the homes our children live in. ...
"Addict- is a term that has its origin in Roman Law and it referred to "a person who was formally made over or bound to another, attached by restraint or obligation- (Compton's Encyclopedia Online, 1998). ... For example, people refer to "drug habits- and to "addictions to food, gambling, work- and even "running and skiing-. In order to clarify the distinction between the two terms, particularly when they refer to substance abuse, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines "addictive drugs- as "those that produce in the great majority of users an irresistible need for the drug, an increa...
"Drug Reform Policy" The Drug Reform Policy in the United States has been slowly progressing, throughout history, working towards the day when the use of illegal drugs in our country will finally dissipate. ... It was followed by other similar laws, including federal laws in which trafficking in opium was forbidden to anyone of Chinese origin, and restrictions on the importation of smoking opium. ... A major step forward in the control of opiate addiction was taken in 1906 when Congress passed the first Pure Food and Drug Act despite opposition from the patient-medicine interests. ... Incre...
Caffeine Addiction: Cause & Effects Caffeine. ... Because that's just what caffeine is, a drug. ... But not only is caffeine a drug, it is the world's most popular drug (19). Individuals encounter it on a daily basis, but many people do not realize why abuse of caffeine is a problem; nevertheless, all people should be aware of the problems caused by the drug caffeine to better prevent themselves from addiction. ... The origins of caffeine are fairly unknown. ...
Why can't America supply for their own drugs? ... Illicit drug use in America has been increasing. ... The first anti-drugs laws in America were directed to the person who used the drugs, not precisely to the drug itself. ... Think about Tobacco for example, cigarette consumption is legal in America yet because there is a concern in the health institutions more than half of the consumers of cigarettes can and also have successfully overcome their addiction (Nadelmann). ... The Tobacco industry is taxable, it can be tracked all the way back to the source, no violence is involved because i...
ABSTRACT The start of a drug addiction is different for everyone and no two people begin the crippling descent the same. ... This paper refers to addicts and encompasses many types of mind and body altering drugs in our society today drug addiction is an issue that has affected our society in astronomical levels. Drug addiction most often manifests itself as a compulsive action regardless of the consequences of the use. ... Drug addiction is not a respecter of person, socioeconomic status or family of origin. ... An addiction has been defined many ways. ...
The government tells us that we are busy fighting a war on drugs and so it gives us various iconic models to despise and detest : we learn to stereotype inner-city minorities as being of drug-infested wastelands and we learn to "witchhunt" drug users within our own communities under the belief that they represent moral sin and pure evil. ... In order to achieve this goal, it is most useful to understand some crack's socioeconomic origin. ... So why then are drugs not treated as a public health problem as Perrine suggests they should? ... These included the "myths" (Johnson et al....
According to Pardini and Frick (2013) there are three possible origins for Conduct Disorder manifesting in youth. ... Much like conduct disorder, substance abuse in youths is highly influenced by behavioural and familial factors – the negative behaviours associated with CD may lead to the use of drugs or alcohol, and family histories of substance abuse also put youths at increased risk of drug and alcohol use (Conner & Lochman, 2010). Studies have also demonstrated a genetic factor in the origins of conduct disorder and substance use disorder (suspected already due to familial links), ...
First, however, I feel it is important for us to take a quick glance at the origins of our current laws against marijuana and how they progressed to where we are today. ... "The current legal status of marijuana was established in 1970 with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act, which divided drugs into five schedules and placed marijuana in Schedule I, the category for drugs with high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use."... These include: the institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians; American Bar Association; American Public Health Association; Ame...