Let's Cure Addiction
I think it’s funny that medical science presupposes that diseases like cancer and AIDS can be cured. No virus has ever been cured. The creation of cancer cells is a natural function of every species of mammal. Nonetheless, nary a day goes by that there aren’t thousands of medical professionals working on these problems. There are new ideas and new treatments coming out of the pipeline constantly. The world public takes an active interest in supporting the eradication of these diseases.
Addiction may or may not be a “disease”. Who gives a fuck? What addiction is and how it functions is well known. Let’s skip the semantics. Like a disease, addiction is treated and handled with a certain degree of gravity. What I don’t understand is why we spend so much of our collective time and energy on curing diseases like influenza and leukemia, which very well may not be curable, while we spend very little time developing drugs and methods to cure addiction.
Now, I know there is such a thing as gastric bypass for overeaters and I know they have developed opiate and nicotine inhibitors. I’m well aware that there have been efforts to curb addiction and remove positive reinforcement from the equation. However, those who suffer from addiction suffer a staggering relapse rate. Also, there doesn’t seem to be urgency in developing innovative non-pharmaceutical and non-surgical treatments for addiction.
Perhaps the problem with addiction is that a lasting cure ultimately comes down to choice. I know it’s popular to say that addiction suffers are slaves to the condition and have been stripped of their free will, but I think most people still see it, ultimately, as a choice, albeit a very difficult one.
All of that aside, addiction is an unfavorable condition. I think we can all agree on that. One could characterize addiction as a problem. Moreover, it’s a medical problem that affects a lot of people. So, my question is, if this sweeping medical problem exists, why isn’t anyone working on curing it, and if someone is, how come we never hear about it like other diseases?
Now, I know some of you will be tempted to say, “Well, people are going to crave things. Some people will crave unhealthy things. It’s a drive inherent to being a human being.”, and you may have a valid point. But, should you lob that particular argument my way, I will retort with this: Cancer is also a perfectly natural part of being a human being, but we’re still working our asses off trying to cure it.