I can't really insert quotes and all that info I probably should as I read this in a newspaper at the pub, but whatevs I found it interesting. It was an article about drug addictions and chemical hooks. Basically it said a while ago some genius did an experiment with rats. He locked them an empty cage, displayed one bottle of water and a bottle of water laced with a drug of choice. Long story short the rat ended up of course drinking the drugged water and the conclusion was "chemical components lead to addiction". The chemical hook. And then that was the end all of study. So this is what we are taught to believe, that drugs possess a chemical that leads to addiction. But possibly not all drugs. So a while later another guy runs a similar test but he instead makes a "rat park" full of all fun things for rats to live their lives in paradise. He also used the boring cage again. Anyway, the rats in paradise tested the drugged water but weren't interested in it to continue drinking it. Rats in the cage continued to rely on the drugged water. So the guy ponders what if it's the actual environment that leads the rats in the cage with nothing to do to but to continually dose up on drugs. So he takes the rats out of the caged cell and places them into the paradise park. After a few minor set backs, shakes and come downs, the rats who were now free in paradise stopped taking the drugged water. He concluded that when you're depressed with nothing to do then you confide in the one thing that gets you at the time, for the rats it was drugs. When people go to hospital they are often put on medication of higher and more potent forms of recreation drugs like heroin yet when people come home from hospital, it's said that a high percentage do not have withdrawals nor are they addicted to the drugs they had been taking. I look at this now and start to agree. When I'm bored at home with nothing to do its so natural and easy for me to go "meh, sparkin' a bowl" yet when I'm on holidays where drugs are no available im they're the least thing I want and not even on my mind. And this historically is the case with my drug habit. I smoke when I have it and when there's nothing to do but take me out of that environment and I'm quite capable and not even thinking of them. Anyway may have been all hoo ha, I don't know but was interesting.
Here was my response to that article http://www.hipforums.com/forum/topic/465632-addiction-and-the-caged-rat-syndrome/
This relies on the assumption that drug addiction is more or less the same regardless of the drug. Eventhough I think there is potential for unhealthy habitual use of marijuana, it doesn't appear to be the same sort of catalyst for full blown addiction we often see and hear in regards to Heroin and Crystal Meth addicts for example. (Even alcohol for that matter) Also, this goes for both the original and the newer study, findings done on rats aren't necessarily directly applicable to humans. I think this particular issue of drug addiction has a lot of nuanced variables in which a rat study can pretty much only provide a rough, rough outline to some of the factors to consider in drug addiction.
