Most Addictive Drugs

Have you ever wondered what the most addictive drugs are? What classifies drugs as being the most addictive? It comes down to the amount that the drug activates the brains dopamine or reward system. When it comes to addiction, the drug plays a significant role, and the patient’s susceptibility to becoming addicted also plays a vital role, which is why they may attend a substance abuse treatment center.

What are the Most Addictive Drugs?

Looking at the amount of pleasurable signaling conducted by the brain after taking different drugs, addiction experts have come up with the following:

Heroin

Heroin is the most addictive drug out there. It was chosen over opiates in general because it produces a much stronger effect than most prescriptions. This is not including looking at drugs like carfentanil, a large animal tranquilizer, because they are not as common as heroin. Cost wise, heroin has been rated to be second in line as far as the financial destruction it does to society.

It also destroys lives at the same rate. Opiates have been widely available since the prescription influx in the early 1990s. Early on opioids were only used for people with terminal illness because of their addictive properties. Around the year 2000, almost all prescriptions for opioids were not for patients with a terminal illness. Doctors were very liberal in handing out prescriptions to patients.

Over the next decade, opioid overdoses increased by almost 300%, leading to the opioid crises we have on our hands today. Pharmaceutical companies are reluctant to do anything about current prescription patterns, while more and more people are dying from overdoses.

Cocaine

Cocaine has been ranked as the second most addictive drug, and this includes crack cocaine. The drug interacts directly with the dopamine or reward system. The signal is never turned off, giving people feelings of grandiosity and euphoria. Dopamine levels have been found to increase by three times when the drug has been used in animal studies.

Crack cocaine is the third most costly drug to society. It costs people, families, lives, and money. Methamphetamines might be in this place, but they are not as widely used throughout the world. Cocaine comes in powdered and rock form. You can smoke it, snort it, and inject it. Smoking the rocks and injection produce the most powerful effects and are the most addictive ways to take the substance.

Nicotine

Yes, believe it or not, nicotine is classified as the third most addictive drug. It may not get you messed up for an extended period of time, but it does interact with the reward system in your brain and is highly addictive. In addition, over two-thirds of people that try smoking become addicted to it for some amount of time.

Even though tobacco products and smoking will kill more than 8 million people a year in the next ten years, it is still legal to purchase tobacco products in the United States. Tobacco does turn on the brain’s reward system, even though it is legal does not mean it is good for you.

Barbituates

Barbituates induce feelings of euphoria and are highly addictive. Other drugs have replaced these prescription drugs for the most part in the western world. Even though these are not widely available anymore, they were at one time and posed a problem similar to the opioid crises we are now experiencing.

Alcohol

Alcohol is the fifth most addictive substance, but it is the fist most costly substance out there as well. The combination of its addictive properties and the fact that it is legal, make it the most expensive. Alcohol can raise reward signaling by between 40% and 360%, the more that you drink, the higher it goes. This is why many people end up blacking out and binge drinking.

Finding Treatment

If you or a loved one are addicted to a substance get help from a substance abuse treatment center. Getting help in no way means you are weak. It means you are dedicated to yourself and your family to get better. Here are a few treatments we offer:

• Group therapy
• Family therapy
• Inpatient
• Outpatient
• Individual therapy

Are you struggling with one of the most addictive drugs and are looking for treatment in the Jacksonville, FL, area give Beaches Recovery a call at 866.605.0532. We can help you rebuild your life one step at a time.