“I feel that any form of so called psychotherapy is strongly contraindicated for addicts. The question ”Why did you start using narcotics in the first place?” should never be asked. It is quite as irrelevant to treatment as it would be to ask a malarial patient why he went to a malarial area.” – William [...]

“Actually, I think all addiction starts with soda. Every junkie did soda first. But no one counts that. Maybe they should. The soda connection is clear. Why isn’t a presidential commission looking into this? Or at least some guys from the National Carbonation Council.” – Chris Rock

“Marijuana is a much bigger part of the American addiction problem than most people – teens or adults – realize.” – John Walters

“It is not heroin or cocaine that makes one an addict, it is the need to escape from a harsh reality. There are more television addicts, more baseball and football addicts, more movie addicts, and certainly more alcohol addicts in this country than there are narcotics addicts.” – Shirley Chisholm

“We may think there is willpower involved, but more likely… change is due to want power. Wanting the new addiction more than the old one. Wanting the new me in preference to the person I am now.” – George Sheehan

“Nothing is more singular about this generation than its addiction to music.” – Allan Bloom

“The idea that addiction is somehow a psychological illness is, I think, totally ridiculous. It’s as psychological as malaria. It’s a matter of exposure. People, generally speaking, will take any intoxicant or any drug that gives them a pleasant effect if it is available to them.” – William S. Burroughs

“Why is it drug addicts and computer aficionados are both called users?” – Clifford Stoll

“A moderate addiction to money may not always be hurtful; but when taken in excess it is nearly always bad for the health.” – Clarence Day

“I got addicted. News, particularly daily news, is more addictive than crack cocaine, more addictive than heroin, more addictive than cigarettes.” – Dan Rather