Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T14:31:41.576Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Flaws of drug instrumentalization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2011

Joel Swendsen
Affiliation:
Université de Bordeaux, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS 5287), 33000 Bordeaux cedex – France. [email protected]
Michel Le Moal
Affiliation:
INSERM, U862, Neurocentre Magendie, Neurogenesis and pathophysiology, Bordeaux F-33000, France. [email protected] Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux F-33000, France.

Abstract

The adaptive use of drugs, or “drug instrumentalization,” is presented as a reality that the scientific literature has largely ignored. In this commentary, we demonstrate why this concept has limited value from the standpoint of nosology, why it should not be viewed as “adaptive,” and why it has dangerous implications for policy and public health efforts.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Belin, D., Mar, A. C., Dalley, J. W., Robbins, T. W. & Everitt, B. J. (2008) High impulsivity predicts the switch to compulsive cocaine-taking. Science 320:1352–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caspi, A., Begg, D., Dickson, N., Harrington, H., Langley, J., Moffitt, T. E. & Silva, P. A. (1997) Personality differences predict health-risk behaviors in young adulthood: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 73:1052–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crabbe, J. C. (2002) Genetic contributions to addiction. Annual Review of Psychology 53:435–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dierker, L., He, J., Kalaydjian, A., Swendsen, J., Degenhardt, L., Glantz, M., Conway, K., Anthony, J., Chiu WR Sampson, N. A., Kessler, R. C. & Merikangas, K. R. (2008) The importance of timing of transitions for risk of regular smoking and nicotine dependence. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 36:8792.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldman, D., Oroszi, G. & Ducci, F. (2005) The genetics of addictions: Uncovering the genes. Nature Reviews Genetics 6:521–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grant, B. F., Stinson, F. S., Hasin, D. S., Dawson, D. A., Chou, S. P. & Anderson, K. (2004) Immigration and lifetime prevalences of DSM–IV psychiatric disorders among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites in the United States: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Archives of General Psychiatry 61:1226–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koob, G. F. & Le Moal, M. (2006) Neurobiology of addiction. Elsevier.Google ScholarPubMed
Piazza, P. V., Deminière, J. M., Le Moal, M. & Simon, H. (1989) Factors that predict individual vulnerability to amphetamine self-administration. Science 245:1511–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swendsen, J., Conway, K. P., Degenhardt, L., Dierker, L., Glantz, M., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R., Sampson, N. & Kessler, R. C. (2009) Sociodemographic risk factors for alcohol and drug dependence: The 10-year follow-up of the national comorbidity survey. Addiction 104:1346–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swendsen, J. & Le Moal, M. (2011) Individual vulnerability to addiction. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1216:7385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed