Our research participants also mentioned this, and Lisa Olm, writing in UpWords newsletter, says it most eloquently:

A lot of Crystal Meth addicts use it because it is cheap and easy to get, but most of all for pain relief. Pain, including the effects of emotional and physical abuse, as the result of growing up in a dysfunctional home or family. Many addicts were not given a choice, as they were subjected to it at an early age and need it to function normally.

Gabor Maté also makes a strong case for the role of connection and attachment in addiction. In a presentation to Carnegie Community Centre staff (December 2006) he explained that drug addicts typically have circuitry in their brains that have not developed properly. The attachment circuitry (the drive to attach to others and feel loved) is fuelled by the chemical endorphins. Heroin resembles endorphins and attaches in the same place in the brain. It is a powerful attachment chemical, and makes you feel loved and accepted. The “Incentive Circuitry” is stimulated by dopamine, which makes us feel alive, excited, enthusiastic and able to get on with our life. Cocaine and Crystal Meth stimulate 300-1200 % more dopamine than in natural conditions, and Cocaine shuts down dopamine receptors in the brain, especially with ongoing drug use.

Maté argues that “the war on drugs isn’t working” and that an abstinence approach does not work because of the high stress level most addicts experience. He also makes a very sobering observation about his patients: that all the drug users he has worked with — especially Injection Drug Users — have experienced some profound form of childhood abuse, with “no exception”. They have experienced sexual abuse (especially women), abandonment, serial abandonment (moving from one foster home to another) and have been responsible for protecting younger siblings from abuse. And to recognize the moral complexity of these situations, many victims have grown up to be abusers. (information taken from notes on presentation, Carnegie Community Centre, December 2006)

Sarah’s response: I’d like to point out the moral complexity of these situations: Many victims grow up to be addicts or to be abusers in turn. As a society, we feel sorry for children who are neglected or mistreated — but if they turn out to be addicts as adults, we blame and punish them.