Vol. 3, No. 1 , 1997, Page 2 
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Vol. 3, No. 1 , 1997, Page 2 |
"There must be something in our genetic makeup that has made so many McGoverns on both sides
of the ocean susceptible to this terrible disease."
Former Presidential candidate and South Dakota Senator George
McGovern, whose daughter died from alcoholism
"Predisposition to alcoholism is genetic. It's a well-established fact, and it's non-controversial.
People who think alcoholism is not genetic are mistaken."
Robert Karp, Ph.D., a researcher with the National Institute
on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, quoted in Alcoholism
and Drug Abuse Week, July 29, 1996
"Though it may not rank with discovery of life on another planet, the discovery that the brain has
an `addiction pathway' shared by nearly all substances of abuse is big news enough. It means that,
for the first time, we are beginning to understand how addiction works in the brain at the cellular
and molecular levels. It means deepening our understanding of addiction-of why craving occurs
and why withdrawal is painful. And it means targeting the search for medications to counteract
addiction."
Richard L. Peck, in
Behavioral Health Management,
September/October 1996
"In my judgment such of us who have never fallen victims [to alcoholism] have been spared more
by the absence of appetite than by any mental or moral superiority over those who have."
Abraham Lincoln
"It is clear that we are closer to answering the fundamental questions regarding alcohol abuse and
alcoholism: Why is it that millions of otherwise intelligent and dependable people cannot stop
abusive drinking even though they know they are killing themselves? How can we better prevent
alcohol problems, and if they occur, treat them better and reverse their consequences?"
Enoch Gordis, M.D.,
in Archives of General Psychiatry, March 1996
"Perceiving drug addiction as a character flaw or social problem will fail to reverse this
increasingly common disorder."
Charles P. O'Brien and A. Thomas McLellan,
in The Lancet, January 27, 1996
"I was convinced [by findings of genetic studies] that, although environmental factors play a role in
alcoholism, the genetic factors may well determine the predisposition that environment triggers.
These factors include, but are not limited to, a unique reaction to alcohol; differences in
metabolism of alcohol; and different susceptibilities to the long-term consequences of heavy
drinking."
Researcher Marc A. Schuckit, cited in
Alcohol and the Addictive Brain,
by Kenneth Blum and James E. Payne, 1991
"Heredity, somebody said, is what you believe in if your kid makes straight A's. Based on the
present evidence, it's also what you should believe in if members of your family have had trouble
with alcoholism.. Educating the families of alcoholics about the risks they run may be the most
powerful tool for prevention that we have today."
Donald W. Goodwin, M.D.,
in Is Alcoholism Hereditary?, 1988