Article – Hari, Johann. “The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think”. Huffington Post. 20 January 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-real-cause-of-addicti_b_6506936.html
Questions on the Article
1. According to author Johann Hari, what is the mainstream view of the cause of drug addiction?
2. In what ways did rat experiments contribute to misconceptions of the cause of addiction?
3. Summarize the details and results of Bruce Alexander’s Rat Park experiment.
4. According to the author, how was the Vietnam War the human equivalent of the Rat Park study?
5. What were the details of Alexander’s second phase of the Rat Park experiment? What were the results?
6. What typically happens to patients in the case of medical use of diamorphine, and why?
7. Summarize the main points of Peter Cohen’s proposed theory regarding addiction.
8. What did the advent of nicotine patches reveal about cigarette addiction and addiction in general?
9. According to the author, what is ironic about the war on drugs?
10. What are the alternatives to the war on drugs? Where have these alternatives been enacted? What have been the results of enacting these alternatives?
11. According to Hari and George Monbiot, why is loneliness increasing in our society?
12. Provide a reflection on the major issues discussed in this article. How did it impact your views?
13. Offer constructive criticism of the author’s perspective. What arguments, if any, do you disagree with and why? How might the points made in this article change the way we view and treat addiction?