U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Addiction Is a Brain Disease--and It Matters

NCJ Number
173825
Journal
National Institute of Justice Journal Issue: 237 Dated: October 1998 Pages: 2-6
Author(s)
A I Leshner
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the concept of addiction as a chronic, relapsing disease of the brain and implications of this concept for policymaking and public health care strategies.
Abstract
Addiction as a chronic, relapsing disease of the brain is a totally new concept for much of the general public, for many policy makers, and even for many health care professionals. An accurate understanding of the nature of drug abuse and addiction is important to public health strategies and also affects criminal justice strategies. For drug addicted criminals, simple incarceration without treatment is futile and their crime and drug use recidivism rates are high. It is counterproductive not to treat addicts while they are in prison. Understanding addiction as a brain disease also affects how society approaches and deals with addicted individuals. Policy strategies focusing solely on the social or criminal justice aspects of drug use and addiction have been unsuccessful, in part, because they miss at least half of the issue. If the brain is the core of the problem, attending to it needs to be a core part of the solution. Notes