I really think addiction is a spectrum everybody’s on. Some people are really susceptible to chasing altered states and some people are not. Some people may be somewhere in the middle, but they turn to drugs to make up for a bad environment. I don’t think it’s so much weak will.
As an example, I’m pretty slim and don’t eat a lot. There’s an allergy medication I’ll sometimes have to take (Zyrtec). When I take it I get what I call the Zyrtec munchies and I can’t stop eating. Food tastes incredible and I can’t get enough of it. I’d guess some obese people’s brain chemistry is always in that state and I don’t think I’d have the will to not eat if I was always like that.
I’d guess that a lot of addicts are just wired similarly, but with a craving for opioids, alcohol, meth, or whatever their chemistry slants them to.
