• Question: what's the most addictive drug ?

    Asked by andnib25 to Asif, Laura, Lena, Sean, Viv on 14 Mar 2012. This question was also asked by bob12.
    • Photo: Laura Waters

      Laura Waters answered on 14 Mar 2012:

      Different drugs are addictive in different ways. Alcohol is addictive to a lot more people compared with illegal drugs, nicotine is quite high up the list too. Less & less people are using illegal drugs each year which is a great thing.

    • Photo: Lena Ciric

      Lena Ciric answered on 14 Mar 2012:

      A study in the Lancet published a few years ago found that heroin is the most psychologically and physically addictive substance out there. However, there is controversy as to the harm that different drugs do. You might remember a story in the news in 2010 – an independent committee found that while heroin causes the most harm to the addict, alcohol causes the greatest harm to society. Have a look at the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210

    • Photo: Sean Murphy

      Sean Murphy answered on 14 Mar 2012:

      It really depends what you mean by drug. I think the most used/addictive drug would be sugar. Everybody uses it and we all crave sweet things, by definition sugar is highly addictive. This is because our brain has evolved to recognize this (usually rare) and high energy chemical. Drugs are classified as illegal or legal based on public perception of the harm they cause. Sometimes the laws are correct, other times they are wrong. Just look how much harm tobacco causes.

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