"‘What we’re beginning to understand is that drugs of abuse activate natural reward mechanisms that already exist in the brain.’ says Steven Childers of Bowman Gray University in Winston-Salem, N.C." (Marijuana’s active ingredient may cause addiction, USA Today, June 27, 1997)

"Imagine you are taking a slug of whiskey. A puff of a cigarette. A toke of marijuana. A snort of cocaine. A shot of heroin. ...The moment you take that slug, that puff, that toke, that snort, that shot, trillions of potent molecules surge through your bloodstream and into your brain. Once there, they set off a cascade of chemical and electrical events, a kind of neurological chain reaction that ricochets around the skull and rearranges the interior reality of the mind....Why do certain substances have the power to make us feel so good (at least at first)? Why do some people fall so easily into the thrall of alcohol, cocaine, nicotine and other addictive substances, while others can, literally, take them or leave them? The answer, many scientists are convinced, may be simpler than anyone has dared imagine. What ties all these mood-altering drugs together, they say, is a remarkable ability to elevate levels of a common substance in the brain called dopamine."(How we get addicted ...and how we might get cured, Time, May 5, 1997)

"They don’t yet know the precise mechanism by which it works, but scientists are increasingly convinced that dopamine plays a key role in a wide range of addictions, including those to heroin, nicotine, alcohol and marijuana." (How we get addicted ...and how we might get cured, Time, May 5, 1997)

"Like serotonin (the brain chemical affected by such antidepressants as Prozac), dopamine is a neurotransmitter - a molecule that ferries messages from one neuron within the brain to another. Serotonin is associated with feelings of sadness and well-being, dopamine with pleasure and elation. Dopamine can be elevated by a hug, a kiss, a word of praise or a winning poker hand - as well as the potent pleasures that come from drugs." (How we get addicted ...and how we might get cured, Time, May 5, 1997)

"Dopamine, they now believe, is not just a chemical that transmits pleasure signals but may, in fact, be the master molecule of addiction." (How we get addicted ...and how we might get cured, Time, May 5, 1997)

"In the absence of drugs, these nerve cells probably experience a dopamine deficit, Volkow (Dr. Nora Volkow, Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York) speculates, so while addicts begin by taking drugs to feel high, they end up taking them in order not to feel low." (How we get addicted ...and how we might get cured, Time, May 5, 1997)

"The dopamine genes known as D2 and D4 might also play a role in drug abuse, for similar reasons. Both these genes, it turns out, contain the blueprints for assembling what scientists call a receptor, a minuscule bump on the surface of cells to which biologically active molecules are attracted. And just as a finger lights up a room by merely flicking a switch, so dopamine triggers a sequence of chemical reactions each time it binds to one of its five known receptors." (How we get addicted ...and how we might get cured, Time, May 5, 1997)

"...A withdrawal syndrome was reliably produced by as little as 5 days of modest but frequent doses of THC..." (National Institute of Health (NIH) Conference, February 19, 1997)

"...Typical symptoms and signs were restlessness, insomnia, irritability, salivation, tearing, nausea, diarrhea, increased body temperature, anorexia, weight loss, tremor, sweating, sleep brainwave rapid eye movement rebound, and subjective sleep disturbance." (National Institute of Health (NIH) Conference, February 19, 1997)