Drug Cravings
The First Factor of Drug Addiction

Cravings are surely the diabolical curse of addiction. If there were no cravings to torment an addict when he or she tries to come off the addictive substance that was abused, many more people would be able to get clean after being addicted.
If cravings did not crop up weeks, months or even years later, many more people would have succeeded at long-term sobriety. The reduction or elimination of cravings would be a magnificent gift to any person who wishes to stay off street drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, inhalants or other substances.
If you have never been addicted, it might be difficult to understand addictive cravings. To get an idea of what they are like, imagine that you have gone a very long time without eating. You're extremely hungry, even faint and weak. The hunger has really been going on way too long and you can't focus on anything else.
When you're that hungry, very often all you can do is think about your favorite foods. You might even be able to smell and taste that succulent burger or steak, or the sharp, fresh taste of berries blended with sweet whipped cream.
If you get hungry enough, nothing could stop you from running to get food, if it were available. As soon as you consumed that wonderful food you'd been thinking about so passionately, you'd feel completely satisfied.
A drug craving is a somewhat similar, but the craving for an addictive substance is sharper, stronger and much more intense. An addicted person experiencing drug cravings will feel like life itself is dependent on getting and consuming whatever substance is causing those cravings. They will feel justified in saying or doing whatever it takes to feel that satisfaction and relief. But that relief will only last until that drug starts to wear off, which might just be a few hours or might be a day.
The Foundation for a Drug-Free World is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions and live drug-free. For more information go to www.drugfreeworld.org
 
For more information visit the Foundation’s website- www.drugfreeworld.org. Knowledge is powerful.
And for the person with a drug problem, there are real solutions to addiction.  Narconon, a drug rehabilitation program that utilizes the methods of L. Ron Hubbard, has a success rate of more than 75% (www.narconon.org)