Drug addiction is a deadly disease and the drug effects on the human body are harsh. The disease of addiction is one of the toughest to beat but there are some substances that are harder to kick than others. This is because of the chemicals that make up certain drugs. Researchers have recently looked into how different substances are in terms of drug addiction and created a scale of which drugs are the hardest to kick.
There was the initial study that was conducted in the UK and it revealed that alcohol and tobacco are some of the toughest to kick, even harder than illegal drugs but today, we are just going to talk about illegal drugs that are commonly abused. Dutch scientists gave each addictive substance a rating on a scale of zero to three. The rating and scale are related to addictiveness only, not drug effects, overdose rates, or anything else that contributes to the harm of the substance.
The most addictive substance is heroin. Heroin causes tolerance and addiction extremely quickly. The drug withdrawal symptoms of heroin are incredibly severe, making quitting a huge challenge. The rating on the Dutch dependency scale for heroin is 2.89. This is also true for prescription drug abuse.
Crack cocaine is the next most addictive drug with a rating of 2.82. Crack causes a quicker and more intense high than powder cocaine in the user. Crystal meth scored 2.24 on the scale. It mimics a brain chemical, wiring the brain to want more and more. It causes a cycle of craving that is extremely difficult to overcome. In contrast, alcohol comes in at 2.13 on the scale. The withdrawal symptoms from alcohol can be so severe that they may cause death. The addictive properties of alcohol include its effect on the reward system in the brain that leads to intense cravings.
Cocaine, prescription amphetamines, prescription medications such as Xanax and Valium, the club drug GHB, Nicotine, and methadone are also on the list but not in the top ranks on the scale.
All drugs are hard to kick in the end. Only with help from a drug rehab treatment center and real determination can you finally overcome the addiction that has taken over your life. Don’t wait until it’s too late to do something about, get help today!