there is a saying about heroin addiction: “once the needle goes it, it never comes out.” it’s pithy, but far from true because that is not, for the most part, how addiction works. it’s not the substance, it’s the person. most people who try heroin or alcohol or cocaine do not get addicted. neither do most people who try gambling. sure, all these things have addictive potential, but the actual addiction is internal, not driven by the substance. addiction arises more from using something to cover an internal need than from the thing you got hooked on. 1

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