The Addiction Myth
Supporters of the War on Drugs routinely argue as if most or all illegal drugs were addictive in a reasonably strong sense—use them a few time and you are hooked. Some recent data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health show how wildly wrong that belief is.
The figure for heroin, one of the most addictive drugs studied, is that of people who first used heroin from 13 to 24 months prior to the interview, 69.4% didn't use heroin at all during the 12 months before the interview and only 13.4% were dependent on heroin during that year. Of people first using crack during the 13-24 month prior period, over three quarters had not used it in the year before the interview.