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Abstract: 

Addiction is one of the nation’s most widespread public health problems, costing $524 billion (including lost wages and costs to the public healthcare and criminal justice systems) each year. The majority of the estimated 20 million alcoholics and drug addicts in America (and millions more compulsive gamblers, overeaters, and sex addicts, if you accept an expanded understanding of addiction) never get help. An article in the New York Times magazine investigates the current scientific knowledge about addiction and advances that provide hope for some. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) are involved in researching over 100 pharmacological interventions. This article discusses addiction, what causes it, the stigma attached to it, and the steps being taken to cure it.

Keywords: New York Times magazine; The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA); Vivitrol™;

Affiliations:  1: Managing Editor of IDU; 2: Editor.