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Drug addictions: towards socially accepted and medically treatable diseases

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 1, pages 731–736 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

What is the disease that affects more than 30 million individuals in the United States and Europe, is a leading cause of death and costs 2–3.5% of gross domestic product? The answer — alcohol abuse and drug addictions — still surprises many, and in general, addictions are undertreated. But advances in the understanding of the underlying biology and clinical manifestations of addictions are creating new opportunities for the development of novel pharmacotherapies to complement psychosocial interventions.

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Figure 1: Number of people with alcoholism, heroin addiction and cocaine addiction in the United States.
Figure 2: Economic costs of substance abuse in the United States in 1995.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Moore, Associate Editor for www.AlcoholMD.com, and R. Seymour, Managing Editor for the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, for their comments and suggestions.

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  1. the founder of DrugAbuse Sciences, 25954 Eden Landing Road, Hayward, 94545-3816, California, USA

    Philippe Pouletty

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Pouletty, P. Drug addictions: towards socially accepted and medically treatable diseases. Nat Rev Drug Discov 1, 731–736 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd896

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