Discussion on addiction as one of the major issues of the human race.

Compose a 1250 words assignment on addiction as one of the major issues of the human race. Needs to be plagiarism free! Addiction to a substance is typically caused when the person experiences positive reinforcement for consuming the substance. Positive reinforcement is the experience of positive affect as a result of doing a specific act, each time the act is committed. The faster the drug produces the experience of positive reinforcement, the more addictive it can be. Addictive drugs typically cause an increase of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens. Some drugs do this by stimulating dopamine release by dopaminergic neurons in the mesolimbic system, and others do so by inhibiting the reuptake of dopamine by terminal buttons. PET studies with different drugs have provided evidence for these claims. Often, people also obtain negative reinforcement in the form of relief from adverse stimuli when they consume the said substance. Negative reinforcement entails the reduction of adverse experiences on committing an act. Addictive substances cause both these experiences to occur, and thus the person is motivated to continue to consume the substance.