mental

Massachusetts

Beyond brain chemistry: What are the root causes of addiction?

Can your environment help hook you on drugs? Drug addiction is a disease — a chemical dependency that arises from the way certain drugs interact with the brain. Put simply: drugs like cocaine and heroin latch onto the nerve cells of the brain, releasing pleasure-producing neurotransmitters like dopamine. Abuse becomes addiction

legalization

Study: Heavy pot users face as many midlife troubles as alcoholics

(CNSNews.com) — Smoking marijuana regularly is linked to as many economic and social problems in early midlife as being dependent on alcohol, a recently published international study has found. The findings "show that cannabis was not safe for the long-term users tracked in our study," University of California/