Oct 7, 2008
Defining addiction remains a daunting task for the medical and academic communities. An uncontrollable craving for a substance or chemical, characterized by a painful withdrawal when the drug is removed, forms the most common definition of addiction, yet this definition falls short of describing the place of drugs in the minds of those who use them for inspiration. Several Native American cultures, for example, employ psychoactive drugs such as peyote and magic mushrooms in religious rituals. Such use can hardly be called that of the addict. Many writers have...
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