Addiction is a terrible thing. The addict is desperate for drugs and does terrible things to get them. Once he has them he doesn’t give a damn about anyone or anything.  It is as if his soul is possessed by the devil. Of course, we are not religious and we don’t believe that literally. There is a scientific explanation for why the addict acts with such malice. His goal is not to hurt people; he is lying and cheating and stealing to get the drug. Although the child seems like a demon, he is actually in the throes of a medical disease and must be dealt with compassionately. In fact, entire industries were created to treat and research this disease. If you want to find a rehab, there are many. It’s a tough disease, but it can be treated. Never cured, of course, but treated. And people get better.
Continue reading The Little Psychopath Could: How the Addiction Myth creates new Drug Addicts →

All of the best-selling accounts of addiction turn out to be fakes.  This is true of James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces, The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey through his Son’s Addiction by David Sheff.  Why is that?  If you read this site, you already know the answer: because addiction is a myth, and therefore any account of it must be fictional or fraudulent.
Continue reading Why does every best seller on addiction turn out to be fake? →

There is a multi-billion dollar medical industry dedicated to studying the science of ‘addiction’.  However, this is an exercise in futility.  There is no such thing as addiction (defined as an uncontrollable compulsion to drink/drug).  All they can show is that parts of the brain light up when people who use drugs see pictures of them, e.g. cocaine, etc.  Surprise, surprise!  I’m sure my brain would light up when I see a donut.  But I’m not addicted to them.  (Well maybe a little.)
Continue reading Addict Science →

Congratulations Bill W and Dr. Bob!  The Library of Congress ranked your book among the 100 most influential books in American literature.
Continue reading AA Enshrined in History →

Drug addiction is a myth, and drug addicts and alcoholics are total fakers. This may seem hard to believe, because the idea of drug addiction is so ingrained in our consciousness. However, we believe in drug addiction even though we never experienced it ourselves. Although the theory seems plausible, we are completely reliant on the accounts of others, and that they are accurately representing their internal experience. Unlike other diseases like cancer and arthritis, for which there is clear physical evidence, and even for some mental disorders such as schizophrenia, there is no clear physical representation for addiction. In fact, as shown elsewhere on the site, the medical evidence for addiction is often invalid and inconclusive at best. Is it really a disease? Or is it a modern myth? To what extent are the addicts themselves aware of their lies, or do they actually believe the addiction myth, making it a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Continue reading The Types of Addiction Fakers →

We know that drug addiction is real because every day we hear another story of a celebrity with a drug problem getting into trouble.  Drunk driving seems a particularly popular past time among many celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, and Robert Downey Jr.  These are people who could easily afford a driver (and probably have one) but choose to get behind the wheel anyway.  What were they thinking?  They must be addicted to drugs/alcohol and this impaired their judgment.  There is no other explanation.
Continue reading The Real Addicts →

If you want to construct a believable story about how you became an addict, and the overpowering force of addiction, and how it destroyed your life before you put the pieces back together, it’s not hard to do.  Just follow the formula:
Continue reading How to construct a great addiction story →

Don’t promote the myth!

You are not an alcoholic. Drinking is a choice – not a compulsion or disease. When you say, “I’m an alcoholic” or “I am powerless over alcohol” you are perpetuating the Myth of Addiction.
Continue reading Don’t promote the myth! →

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Most people join AA because drinking is no longer fun and they are seeking a replacement for the bar scene. These people are not alcoholics. But when they say, “I am an alcoholic” or “I am powerless over alcohol” they are perpetuating the Myth of Addiction. It is no coincidence that this is the first step of the initiation into the group — a classic brain washing technique.
Continue reading AA double talk →

There are many causes of the drug addiction myth, but one of the most important is Alcoholics Anonymous and other “12 Step” programs.  These programs require that the participant believe that addiction exists and that they are in fact a drug addict, in order to participate in the program.  The first step of the program is:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Continue reading How 12 step programs promote the addiction myth →

20 years from now all drugs will be legal, and people will look back on the drug war and say, “What were we thinking??!!”.There will not be addiction or even widespread drug abuse.  People will be aware of the effects of drugs (good and bad) and will use them responsibly.  Some people will use drugs to excess, learn their lesson, and then stop (much like the great majority of us already do today).  The myth of drug addiction will be remembered as one of the many silly obsessions of the past that resulted in unnecessary and widespread oppression, destruction and death.
Continue reading Legalization and the end of the drug war →