Discuss current research into the causes of addiction, using specified examples
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Addiction - chemical dependence or habit? Discuss current research into the causes of addiction, using specified examples. I this essay I will attempt to explore the causes of addiction. "Everyone engages in addictive behaviours to some extent because such things as eating, drinking, and sex are essential to survival and highly reinforcing," says G. Alan Marlatt, Ph.D., director of the Addictive Behaviours Research Centre at the University of Washington. "We get immediate gratification from them and find them very hard to give up indeed. That's a pretty good definition of addiction." (Rodgers 1994:1) Many people experiment with potentially addictive drugs. About 60% of Americans sample an illicit drug at least once in their lifetime (Johnston et al. 2001). If alcohol is included, the percentage of Americans exposed to a potentially addictive drug rises to over 90%, but few of these people become addicts. Even for a very addictive drug like cocaine, only 15-16%...


