Brains, environments, and policy responses toaddiction

Reward and decision-making circuitry are critical With 1 in 8 deaths globally due to the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, the director-general of the World Health Organization ( 1 ) recently called for more scientifically informed public policies regarding addiction. In the United States, w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2017-06, Vol.356 (6344), p.1237-1238
Main Authors: Humphreys, Keith, Malenka, Robert C., Knutson, Brian, MacCoun, Robert J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictions
Alcoholic beverages
Brain
Drug abuse
Drug overdose
Drugs
Legislation
Narcotics
Opioids
Overdose
Public policy
Tobacco
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Summary:Reward and decision-making circuitry are critical With 1 in 8 deaths globally due to the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, the director-general of the World Health Organization ( 1 ) recently called for more scientifically informed public policies regarding addiction. In the United States, where an average of 91 people per day die of opioid overdose, a presidential task force is to present, on 27 June, policy recommendations to combat opioid addiction, although the House of Representatives passed an Affordable Care Act repeal bill that would withdraw health insurance from two million people with addictions. Despite these urgent challenges, research on the brain and its interactions with the environment, which can help policymakers advance more effective and humane policies than some traditional approaches to addiction, has only occasionally been applied in public policy.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aan0655