A shortly to be published article in Behavioural and Brain Sciences by Christian Müller and Gunter Schumann greatly supports the message that the Beckley Foundation has been trying to promote for years that there is a distinction between Drug Use and Drug Abuse, many people use drugs throughout their lives without causing harm to themselves or to others.
This paper proposes a new neurobiological framework theory for non-addictive psychoactive drug consumption, introducing the concept of ‘drug instrumentalization’.
Abstract: Most people who are regular consumers of psychoactive drugs are not drug addicts, nor will they ever become addicts. In neurobiological theories, non-addictive drug consumption is only acknowledged as a ‘necessary’ prerequisite for addiction, but not as a stable and wide spread behavior in its own right. The present paper proposes a new neurobiological framework theory for non-addictive psychoactive drug consumption, introducing the concept of ‘drug instrumentalization’. Psychoactive drugs are consumed for their effects on mental states. Humans are able to learn that mental states can be changed on purpose by drugs, in order to facilitate other, non-drug related behaviors. Specific ‘instrumentalization goals’ are discussed and neurobiological mechanisms of how major classes of psychoactive drugs change mental states and serve non-drug related behaviors are outlined. We argue that drug instrumentalization behavior may provide a functional adaptation to modern environments based on a historical selection for learning mechanisms which allow the dynamic modification of comsummatory behavior. It is assumed that in order to effectively instrumentalize psychoactive drugs, the establishment of and retrieval from a drug memory is required. Here we propose a new classification of different drug memory subtypes, and discuss how they interact during drug instrumentalization learning and retrieval. Understanding the every day utility and the learning mechanisms of non-addictive psychotropic drug use may help to prevent abuse and the transition to drug addiction in the future.
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I am an addict and suffer this current system we live in regarding addictive drugs. I am also a human being that needs love and compassion. I never hurt anyone, except my family that have to see the state I’m in due the lack of care that”s available in this wicked system. All the lies that filter through from governmental protocol, right down to the negative attitudes of bone heads on the street. My God, there must be something better than this, I wish I could get clean.
After seeing an close buddie going trough a difficult moment due to a sickness caused through smoking I made it my personal quest to rescue as much other individuals as is possible from the same experience, though quickly I realized that no matter how good your arguments are it is nearly impossible to make a smoker stop smoking, not necessarily because your arguments aren’t good enough and not necessarily because the smoker just isn’t willing to quit but simply because nicotine is really a more addictive drug than heroin as well as cocaine (scientifically proven).
I Then found out there is actually a way to stop smoking without quitting smoking, therefore give the smoker their pleasure and also habit but save him from the dangerous effects of cigarettes.
The Things I am referring to are electronic cigarettes. Read regarding all of the negative effects connected with smoking cigarettes and how a electronic cigarette may help you quite smoking cigarettes or simply allow you to follow your current habit and get your kick without the harmful negative effects of smoking cigarettes on my web-site http://electroniccigarette0.com
P.S. I am hoping this will not get deleted because of having a link to my web page as I just attempt to inform and help.
All the best
Chrissy M.