THERE IS A CATCH. ALMOST EVERYTHING WE THINK WE KNOW ABOUT ADDICTION IS WRONG. IF YOU, FOR EXAMPLE, BREAK YOUR HIP, YOU’LL BE TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL, AND YOU’LL BE GIVEN LOADS OF DIAMORPHINE FOR WEEKS OR EVEN MONTHS. DIAMORPHINE IS HEROIN. IT’S IN FACT MUCH STRONGER HEROIN THAN ANY ADDICT CAN GET ON THE STREET, BECAUSE IT’S NOT CONTAMINATED BY ALL THE STUFF DRUG DEALERS DILUTE IT WITH. THERE ARE PEOPLE NEAR YOU BEING GIVEN LOADS OF DELUXE HEROIN IN HOSPITALS RIGHT NOW. SO AT LEAST SOME OF THEM SHOULD BECOME ADDICTS. BUT THIS HAS BEEN CLOSELY STUDIED. IT DOESN’T HAPPEN. YOUR GRANDMOTHER WASN’T TURNED INTO A JUNKIE BY HER HIP REPLACEMENT. WHY IS THAT? OUR CURRENT THEORY OF ADDICTION COMES IN PART FROM A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS THAT WERE CARRIED OUT EARLIER IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
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