ADDICTION ISNT THE ENEMY

For a century now, the world has been waging a war against addiction — a battle filled with punishment, stigma, and fear. But what if everything we thought we knew about addiction is wrong? What if the real answer isn’t more control, more punishment, or more shame — but more love, understanding, and human connection?

This isn’t just theory. It’s rooted in lived experience, science, and social experiments from around the world.

A Personal Awakening

Many of us have experienced addiction up close. Maybe it was a loved one. Maybe it was ourselves. For one speaker, the journey began with childhood confusion — trying to wake up a relative who wouldn’t wake up. Only years later would he understand the harsh reality of addiction in his family: a painful struggle with drugs, including cocaine.

This personal pain sparked a question: Why do people become addicted — and how can we help them heal? The answers took him across the globe, speaking to scientists, addicts, and policymakers — and what he learned was staggering.

The Truth About Addiction

The common story we tell about addiction goes like this: drugs have chemical hooks. Take heroin for 20 days, and your body gets physically hooked. You become a slave to the chemical. Seems straightforward, right?

But there’s a serious flaw in this logic.

Consider this: in hospitals around the world, patients are given diamorphine — pure heroin — for pain. Sometimes for weeks. Yet the vast majority of those patients do not leave as heroin addicts. Why? If the chemical alone causes addiction, why don’t we see mass addiction from hospital use?

Rat Park and the Cage We Live In

The answer may lie in an experiment from the 1970s. Psychologist Bruce Alexander created something revolutionary: Rat Park. Previously, rats isolated in cages with access to heroin-laced water would choose the drug and quickly overdose. But in Rat Park — a stimulating environment with other rats, play, food, and fun — they avoided the drug almost completely.

The difference? Connection. Purpose. Life.

Rats in isolation chose the drug. Rats with a fulfilling life didn’t.

And humans are no different.

During the Vietnam War, up to 20% of U.S. soldiers were using heroin. Fearing a drug epidemic, the U.S. was shocked when 95% of those soldiers simply stopped using when they returned home. Why? They left a war zone — a place of trauma and fear — and returned to family, work, and connection.

Addiction: A Bonding Problem

Addiction isn’t about chemicals. It’s about bonding.

Humans are hardwired to connect. If we can’t bond with people, we will bond with something else — drugs, alcohol, gambling, even smartphones. Addiction is not a moral failure; it’s an adaptation to a life where connection is broken.

Dutch professor Peter Cohen put it this way: addiction is not about the drug — it's about the cage. It's about the environment we live in.

Portugal’s Bold Experiment

In 2000, Portugal faced a heroin crisis. One percent of the population was addicted. The government made a bold move: they decriminalized all drugs and reinvested that money into helping people reconnect with life.

They didn’t just treat the symptoms. They treated the cause.

They offered therapy, but more importantly, they helped people find jobs, housing, and community. Addicts were supported in building small businesses or returning to their former trades. Instead of shame and jail, they found dignity and purpose.

The results? Injecting drug use dropped by 50%. Overdoses, HIV, and addiction rates plummeted. And the Portuguese people overwhelmingly supported continuing the program.

The Hidden Crisis of Disconnection

This isn’t just about heroin or cocaine. It’s about us — all of us. In our hyper-connected digital world, we are increasingly disconnected. We have more social media “friends” than ever, yet fewer people we can call in a real crisis.

Our culture glorifies independence, yet we’re starving for real intimacy. We've traded community for convenience, depth for dopamine hits. And for many, that void leads to addiction — not just to drugs, but to shopping, scrolling, gambling, food.

When life is unbearable, we reach for something — anything — to make it go away.

A New Way to Help

So how should we treat addiction?

Not with shame. Not with punishment. But with compassion. The speaker in this journey learned to change the script with his loved ones struggling with addiction. Instead of threatening to walk away, he chose to say:

“I love you whether you're using or not. I will sit with you. I don’t want you to feel alone.”

Love is not enabling. It’s empowering. It’s saying: I see your pain, and I’ll walk with you through it.

From Individual to Social Recovery

Yes, individuals need recovery. But so do our communities. Our systems. Our cultures.

Addiction isn't just an individual failure. It’s a social failure — a sign that something is broken in how we live. We need to create a society where people can feel safe, seen, and connected.

And that starts with how we talk about addiction. It starts with empathy.

The Final Message

For 100 years, we’ve sung war songs about addicts. Maybe it’s time to start singing love songs.

Because the opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety.The opposite of addiction is connection.