Addiction Medicine: Closing the Gap between Science and Practice

28.7

29.9

29.9

34.8

35.1

41.9

Lack of Willpower/Self-Control

Predisposition/Genetics/

Family History

Stress/Anxiety

Emotional Disorders/Mental Illness

Easy Availability

Inability To Resist Peer Pressure

P E R C E N T

Figure 2.D

Perceived Causes of Addiction

Involving Illegal Drugs

Source: CASA Columbia National Addiction Belief and Attitude Survey

(NABAS), 2008.

Note 1: Respondents could choose two or three answers.

Note 2: Other research finds that genetics account for up to 78% of the

risk for the development of addiction involving prescription and other

drugs.

The NABAS found little indication that
respondents attribute addiction primarily to an
“absence of religious faith or spiritual
grounding” or to “distorted moral values.”^216