Results for “Prof. Griffith Edwards”

What is obvious is that the first reason people use drugs is that they're there. You can't use drugs unless they're there, and they're cheap for your pocket or for the fruits of your stealing! For that reason, we need to get a deeper understanding of the fundamental question of why drugs are available on our streets.

Pioneer of addiction medicine and alcohol dependence research; founded modern addiction psychiatry

There's a very strong relationship between depravation and drug use in many western cultures. It's not the sole reason- you do get the rich and mega-privileged using drugs… You can't go shouting from the rooftops that it's all about depravation… a lot of it is… but there are other social factors, personal factors, genetic factors and economic factors – all mixed into the pot.

Pioneer of addiction medicine and alcohol dependence research; founded modern addiction psychiatry

You can't get addicted to drugs unless you're exposed to them. You have to be exposed in situation where you can determine the dose. If you take the drug long enough and in a high-enough dose… most drugs which are addictive, will give you withdrawal symptom… making you feel rotten, and giving you another reason to take more.

Pioneer of addiction medicine and alcohol dependence research; founded modern addiction psychiatry

What's special about it as a science subject is that it is so awkward, it doesn't lend itself to easy solutions. It's a multi-factorial problem, very different to- for example- the question of what causes influenza?

Pioneer of addiction medicine and alcohol dependence research; founded modern addiction psychiatry