Since the earliest times, people have used opium, the parent drug of a group of chemicals called narcotics. Like almost anything, narcotics can be used for good or bad purposes. When used properly, narcotics are valued medications in the treatment of pain. They are the standard against which the effectiveness of other pain treatments are measured. People who suffer from longterm or extreme pain depend on medically prescribed narcotics.

The Grip of Addiction

But these benefits have a cost. In some people, narcotics cause a type of dependence called addiction. Addiction can consume a person, changing personality so drastically that some narcotic addicts have suffered loss of families, friends, jobs, and homes.

One might wonder how anything could take over a person's mind with such power. Some researchers believe that it may be impossible for the nonaddicted to...