The author of the article, London: "In my view that both psychological and biochemical memories function similarly. We're talking about leg gun holster learning at the molecular level, and the reason why addicts even after being completely free of the drug are able to feel a strong craving whenever they encounter stimuli--even pictures or sounds that recall their drug-related experience."

If there's a flaw in this depiction of addiction it is that it's far from straightforward. It's also politically incorrect and likely to not bring those in the "Just Say No" and "law and law and order" crowd very content. It is however laying solid foundations for rehabilitation and prevention programs and promises completely innovative strategies to fight addiction. The implications of this new perspective of addiction are significant for treatment, prevention as well as public policy.

L.H.R. Drew who is an Australian addiction specialist, explains that "if there is a belief that addiction to drugs--and in particular addiction to drugs is a particular kind of behavior that is extremely contagious irreparable, and eventually results in diseases and is caused by the unique seductive qualities of certain substances, then our method of decreasing the effects of drugs isn't likely to alter. If, however, the beliefs are that addiction to drugs is more similar to other behaviors and that there's nothing particular about drug addiction when as compared to other addictions that are widely encountered, then the drug fear may decrease and a logical approach to the policy to lessen the effects of drugs could be feasible. It is important to recognize that people are prone to getting into problems with drugs similar to how they would with other situations, ..., specifically, behaviors that provide immediate rewards."

The new understanding of addiction, according to Childers that people differ in their capacity to deal with difficulties and pleasures "but we need to recognize that we share the same pathways of reward, pleasure and suffering. Anyone western 1911 leather holster who uses cocaine is likely to enjoy it. anybody who is sexually active is likely to be happy. There's nothing unusual about being high on cocaine. Everyone does. There is a fundamental cause of addiction, and we have to break away from the notion that only the weak or weak people suffer from addiction. Saying to someone 'just be quiet' is the same as telling someone to simply not eat or drinking or sex. We need to begin to understand the human nature of this and how difficult this is. But it's far from unattainable."