Chapter 8: Addiction as Brain Disease

Addiction isn’t a lack of willpower — it’s a neurological hijacking. This episode reveals what happens when drugs seize the brain’s reward system and what real recovery requires. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience, Randolph M. Baggett explains how addiction rewires the brain’s dopamine pathways, turning choice into compulsion. He challenges punitive drug policies that ignore biology and highlights programs proven to heal both brain and behavior. Understanding addiction as disease, not defect, opens the door to smarter sentencing and lasting rehabilitation. 📘 Get your copy of Justice Reimagined: Neuroscience and Public Safety here: https://freedomforceflorida.org/books