So which drugs are the most addivtive

[IgnoreMe 5,000+ posts]

5. Which drugs are the most addictive?
This is a difficult question to answer because it depends upon a lot of factors in both the drug and the person who uses it. In an attempt to define clearly what is meant by addiction, and which drugs are the most addictive, Dr. Jack E. Henningfield of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Dr. Neal L. Benowitz of the University of California at San Francisco ranked six psychoactive substances on five criteria.

* Withdrawal -- The severity of withdrawal symptoms produced by stopping the use of the drug.

* Reinforcement -- The drug's tendency to induce users to take it again and again.

* Tolerance -- The user's need to have ever-increasing doses to get the same effect.

* Dependence -- The difficulty in quitting, or staying off the drug, the number of users who eventually become dependent

* Intoxication -- The degree of intoxication produced by the drug in typical use.

The tables listed below show the rankings given for each of the drugs. Overall, their evaluations for the drugs are very consistent. It is notable that marijuana ranks below caffeine in most addictive criteria, while alcohol and tobacco are near the top of the scale in many areas.

The rating scale is from 1 to 6. 1 denotes the drug with the strongest addictive tendencies, while 6 denotes the drug with the least addictive tendencies.

HENNINGFIELD RATINGS

Substance Withdrawal Reinforcement Tolerance Dependence Intoxication

Nicotine 3 4 2 1 5

Heroin 2 2 1 2 2

Cocaine 4 1 4 3 3

Alcohol 1 3 3 4 1

Caffeine 5 6 5 5 6

Marijuana 6 5 6 6 4

BENOWITZ RATINGS

Substance Withdrawal Reinforcement Tolerance Dependence Intoxication

Nicotine 3* 4 4 1 6

Heroin 2 2 2 2 2

Cocaine 3* 1 1 3 3

Alcohol 1 3 4 4 1

Caffeine 4 5 3 5 5

Marijuana 5 6 5 6 4

*equal ratings

interesting find IMO especially when looking at the ratings for Caffeine and comparing them with Marijuana.. sorry about how the numbers wont line up, but im sure it will be easy to understand the layout, if you aren't a complete jackass.

Click to read more...

 

[Idealrealist 10+ year member]

How long was the trial?

 

[IgnoreMe 5,000+ posts]

i dont think it was a trial. and if it was, i dont have any info on it.

 

[babaganoush123 10+ year member]

Nicotine 3* 4 4 1 6

 

[BassAddictJ 5,000+ posts]

nicotine, caffine, heroin, alchole, and close behind cocain.....

dont forget to bring a towel

 

[boom*u*like*dat 10+ year member]

heroin 11111

 

[marleyskater420 5,000+ posts]

coke rules.

 

[Thieroff 10+ year member]

People always say that a certain drug is addictive.

Physically, I would agree. But physically isn't where it's at.

Addiciton is a disease of the mind, not th drugs itself. Atleast in my humble opinion.

CT

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

alcohol wins!!! consequently our fair government gets their cut....

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

does this mean I should stop putting 6 packs of mountain dew in my bong ? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

 

[Andrew12 10+ year member]

dutch master sports ahhh lol

 

[J31Rob 5,000+ posts]

edit: i can't read.

 

[skeptikal Premium Member]

Lol I'd say cocaine kills everything on that list besides heronie.

Coke is a hellofadrug. Every rumor they said about how you can do it once and your hooked and blah blah blah blah... yeah its all true.

Nicotine doesn't count as an addiction, it's the habit of smoking not the chemical itself.

 

[J31Rob 5,000+ posts]

edit: i've been corrected.

 

[WildcatNate 10+ year member]

coke, in my opinion. Never experienced heroin though.