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>>[Person #1] I don't think
addiction is a disease.

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>>[Person #2] I think addiction
can be overcome.

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>>[Person #3] You have choices, 
and you can choose to stop.

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>>[Person #4] It's not a disease.

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>>[Person #5] It is a disease, but it 
doesn't need medication to be treated.

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>>[Person #6] Of course it is a disease.

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>>[Person #7] I just experienced working
in a professional capacity with addicts--

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I think it's a disease.

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>>[Bill Nye] Have you ever heard that
people say addiction is a disease?

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>>[Person #7] I've heard
a few people say it, but it isn't,

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because you can stop whenever you want.

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>>[Bill Nye] So, who's right?

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Is an addiction a disease?

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Or isomething you overcome
with your force of will?

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♪ [Singing the show's title: 
"The Eyes of Nye"] ♪

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♪ [fast-paced digital music] ♪

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♪ ♪

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♪ [singing continues] Nye... Nye... ♪

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♪ The Eyes of Nye! ♪

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>>[Adam Carolla] Hey, everybody. It's Love Line.

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I'm Adam Carolla. That is Dr. Drew.

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Phone number: 1-800-LOVE-191.
Bill Nye, the Science Guy in here.

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Jamison? [button beeps]

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>>[Jamison]Yes.
>>[Adam] You're 16?

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>>[Jamison] Yes.
>>[Adam] What's up?

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>>[Jamison] Lately I've been having
these dreams of, like, me smoking pot,

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and I've been clean for 3 months now.

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>>[Dr. Drew] Well, "using dreams" 
are absolutely routine.

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Anyone who's been addicted to a 
drug and stops, will have "using dreams."

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It's your brain really craving the drug.
That's the feeling you have.

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You want to be using. 
You want it so badly.

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It doesn't sound like you're in a program,
because if you were,

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people would tell you that everyone has that.

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>>[Jamison] Well, I was in the program,
and I didn't really bring it up.

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It just started recently...

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>>[Dr. Drew] 
Okay, well, tell your sponsor about it then.

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>>[Jamison] Um...I don't have a sponsor.

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>>[Dr. Drew] Alright, like I said, 
you're not in the program.

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>>[Adam] We'll take ourselves 
a little break. We'll be back.

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♪ [music starts] ♪

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>>[Bill Nye] So, Drew, you do this 
radio show, Love Line, every night?

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It takes you just a few moments to analyze 
people's problems, and you seem to be dead on.

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What is it about addicts, what is it 
about addiction, that you pick up on?

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>>[Dr. Drew] How do I know it's addiction?
It's just...I, I...it's almost like a smell.

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>>[Bill Nye] You're on the radio!

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>>[Dr. Drew] I know! And I'll go to Adam:
"I smell it. I just know it's here."

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♪ [music like from old TV shows] ♪

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♪ ♪

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>>[narrator of the video] Youth is 
a happy time and a carefree time.

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A time of auto rides and double dates.

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It's a time of fun, pranks, and jokes.

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Youth is a time for finding
one's place in the world.

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But, sometimes in these troubled days,
the very thoughtlessness of youth

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♪ [music changes to ominous] ♪
has led to a living nightmare:

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addiction to drugs, too often 
acquired with tragic carelessness.

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To these addicts, life's only work 
is to find money for drugs.

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In their desperation, 
no means is too foul.

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Their only goal in life is to keep the deadening
chemicals forever in their heart's blood.

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[sound of old film reel ending]

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>>[Dr. Drew] It is important for me to--
for people, in this country in particular,

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to understand this disease of addiction,

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because the perception is 
so far from the reality.

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It breaks my heart,
the amount of suffering

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and the amount of loss that 
goes on because of this disease.

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>>[Bill Nye, narrating] When Dr. Drew's 
not working the phones on Love Line,

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he's the director of chemical dependency
services at Los Encinas Hospital,

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where he works with hundreds of addicts.

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>>[Dr. Drew, addressing an audience]
...and I want to hear how, again,

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it was or was not relatable to your stories.

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>>[audience member #1] I smoked pot 
with thousands of kids in my high school.

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I ended up homeless and toothless on heroin.

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>>[audience member #2] 
Through this drug that I got introduced to--

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it was like cocaine, and couldn't get 
the cocaine, and moved on to speed--

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I became this, like, superwoman and 
I was just, like, everything and anything.

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>>[audience member #3] 
And every time I got pregnant,

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like that [snaps her fingers],
I stopped taking drugs,

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I stopped doing alcohol, I stopped everything.

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Then after your child is a year or two old, 
just naturally, you start using again.

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>>[audience member #4] Since I accepted
that idea that addiction was a disease,

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it's been relatively easier for 
me to deal with my addiction.

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>>[Bill Nye] Drew, in your opinion, 
addiction is a disease, right?

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>>[Dr. Drew] Addiction is a disease, 
but really to answer that question accurately,

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you've got to be able to 
understand what a disease is.

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The definition of disease, for me, would 
be an abnormal physiological process

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brought on by a relationship between the
genetics of the individual and the environment.

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That pathophysiology will create
a set of signs and symptoms

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that progress in a predictable way, 
we call it a "natural history,"

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and by affecting the natural history,

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we can create a predictable 
response to treatment.

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>>[Bill Nye] Mm-hmm. 
>>[Dr. Drew] That's it. That's disease.

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And addiction does fit that,

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but people get hung up on
where the physiology goes wrong,

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and they don't understand 
that it's a brain disease.

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>>[Bill Nye, narrating] 
Now, Dr. Drew went through that pretty fast.

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Let's go over it again. So, what is a disease?

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Well, it's an abnormal physiological process.

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Something is going wrong inside you:
a virus is replicating, a tumor is growing,

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or your brain is being 
altered by steady drug use.

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Now, diseases are brought on by the 
combination of the environment and genetics.

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So, [for example] you've inhaled a flu virus and 
you've gotten infected, that's the environment.

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You're color-blind? Well, that's genetics.

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Diseases all have signs and symptoms, 
they all have natural histories,

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and they all respond to 
treatments in predictable ways.

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So, to see why we often think 
of addiction as a disease,

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we have to take a look 
at how our brains work.

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Like everything else inside you, 
your brain is made of cells, billions of them.

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We call them neurons.

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Messages are carried from neuron 
to neuron with tiny chemical signals,

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across gaps we call synapses.

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Now, at this chemical level,
everything we find pleasurable

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amounts to nothing more 
than a microscopic flood

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of the neurotransmitter called dopamine.

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So, we call this the "reward pathway."

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We like the pleasurable feeling, 
so we do it again and again,

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do it again and again.

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Things like eating, drinking,
and having sex are pleasurable

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because they're required for our survival.

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But, it turns out, there's a connection 
between drugs and dopamine.

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[cavemen eating loudly]

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>>[caveman #1] Wow, these cocoa leaves 
are really raising the level of dopamine

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at the synapses in my brain!

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>>[caveman #2] Yeah, you know, it's like...

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it's, uh, almost mimicking the 
neurotransmitter's structure

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by tying up to binding sites the
molecules that transport dopamine.

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>>[caveman #1] I've heard that to get high,
they have to occupy at least 47% of those sites.

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>>[caveman #2] 
Really? You know, I heard it was 60 to 80%.

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>>[caveman #1] Well, sure, 60 to 80% for 
MAXIMUM effect, but 47% at the minimum.

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>>[caveman #2] Well, I don't want to get high;

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I just want to get through 
the cold temperatures at night.

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>>[caveman #1] The cold doesn't bother me.

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>>[caveman #2] Really?
So, um...why are you chewing on these?

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>>[caveman #1] Because my dad
never played catch with me.

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I think I'm gonna need a hug here.

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>>[caveman #1] No, dude.

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>>[Dr. Drew, to an audience] Down in here, 
down in the sort of reptilian part of your brain,

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we share that with mice and rats 
and other, certainly, lower mammals.

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And it's why addiction is so easily studied 
in rodents and lower mammalian life forms,

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because this is a disease 
of this part of the brain,

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of an area called the mesolimbic reward system.

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And it's a part of the brain 
that does not have language,

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does not have logic... [trails off]

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[to Bill Nye] It's basically what drives us--

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it's the survival center of your brain.

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Addiction is basically a hijacking 
of the survival system.

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>>[Bill Nye] To show the powerful effect
that drugs can have on the survival system,

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an experiment was done with laboratory mice.

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Now, these were special mice, 
they were already alcoholic mice.

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They were given access to all the cocaine 
they wanted every time they pressed a lever.

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So, the mice would maintain a precise 
concentration of cocaine in their bodies,

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pressing a lever every 12 minutes exactly.

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After 14 days, the mice died. Powerful stuff.

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>>[Dr. London] I'm a brain researcher.

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Here at the Brain Mapping Center at UCLA,

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we have this wonderful opportunity
to look inside a human brain.

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>>[Bill Nye] So, doctor, let's say I were gonna 
get a PET scan (positron emission tomography).

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First, I got the sunglasses
because it's bright, right?

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But, then what happens?

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>>[Dr. London] If you were going to get 
a PET scan, we would... [dialogue trails off]

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>>[Bill Nye, narrating] 
Now there are exciting breakthroughs

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using magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs)
and positron emission tomography (PET scans).

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We can get to the next level 
of addiction research.

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We can see exactly what drugs 
do to the human brain.

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>>[Dr. London] Here, we're looking at

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the comparison of a group of 
methamphetamine abusers

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and a group of non–drug-using volunteers.

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The blue areas are areas where the 
methamphetamine abusers are not working.

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If you have a look at the pre-frontal lobe,

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the central area that's so important
for being able to make a decision

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that involves balancing reward against 
knowing that there's a negative consequence.

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You can see that that area is just turned off.

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But these other areas that are 
part of that executive center

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that are important in the emotional 
state of craving are really hot.

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>>[Bill Nye] You've lost your 
ability to make decisions;

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at the same time, you've lit up 
your need, your craving.

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So let me ask you this:

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Is it possible that the methamphetamine abuser

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cannot decide NOT to take the
drug that's related to addiction?

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>>[Dr. London] 
In fact, the very nature of addiction

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has to do with the inability 
to make proper decisions.

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>>[Bill Nye] This pattern where the 
decision-making part is sorta turned off--

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Is this what happens to an addict?
"I can't decide-- Like, this is gonna kill me,

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this is gonna kill me, but I gotta have it, 
I gotta have it, I gotta have it"

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and there's no-- 
They can't think about the future?

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>>[Dr. London] Well, you know, for many years,

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we were thinking that the
best way to treat addiction

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was to come up with a blocker to block
the high, but that didn't really work.

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And then the next wave of work 
in coming up with treatment

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was to reduce craving, but in fact,

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I think the biggest problem in drug abuse is 
the decision making that you just talked about.

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Sure, craving occurs, but then 
what is someone going to DO with it?

191
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>>[Bill Nye] Because they're not thinking.

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>>[Dr. London] The part of the brain
that's really critical for decision making

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is just not functioning properly
in the methamphetamine abuser

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00:10:56,948 --> 00:10:59,147
(and in drug abusers in general).

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One of the things that my colleagues
who are treatment providers have told me

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is that it's very useful to take pictures like
this to show people that are in treatment

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and it allows the person not to feel guilty
about not being able to do the right thing.

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It allows the person to see that there is 
some chemical problem that needs to recover

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before they get back to a state where 
they can make all the right decisions.

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>>[Bill Nye] So, Doctor, you look 
at these images all day, right?

201
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You analyze these things.

202
00:11:31,125 --> 00:11:34,427
If you had one thing to tell the world
about your research, what would it be?

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00:11:34,427 --> 00:11:39,441
>>[Dr. London] Addiction is a brain disease;
no matter how the addict got there,

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00:11:39,441 --> 00:11:42,491
at this point, he has a 
problem making decisions.

205
00:11:42,491 --> 00:11:46,225
The whole executive center 
of the brain is involved.

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00:11:46,225 --> 00:11:50,757
The central area that's really needed
for him to be able to make a choice

207
00:11:50,757 --> 00:11:53,508
when he's got to balance between a quick fix,

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00:11:53,508 --> 00:11:58,906
knowing that there's a negative consequence
is something that's not happening properly.

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>>[Bill Nye] Addiction is a brain disease.
>>[Dr. London] It is.

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00:12:02,297 --> 00:12:04,142
>>[Bill Nye] There it is, in black and white...

211
00:12:04,142 --> 00:12:06,720
>>[Dr. London] ...and color.
>>[Bill Nye] ...and blue and orange.

212
00:12:07,922 --> 00:12:11,370
So how do drugs affect your brain?

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00:12:11,370 --> 00:12:14,421
Different drugs affect
the brain in different ways.

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[narrating] For example, cocaine molecules
resemble dopamine molecules,

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00:12:19,037 --> 00:12:24,840
so cocaine molecules end up binding to
the receptors of the cells in such a way

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00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:29,786
that prevents the cells from removing or
pumping the dopamine out of the synapses.

217
00:12:29,786 --> 00:12:34,068
And so the brains end up with 
more dopamine and more pleasure.

218
00:12:34,068 --> 00:12:39,792
It may be that the neurons in addicts' brains 
receive such high levels of dopamine

219
00:12:39,792 --> 00:12:46,385
that the cells try to adapt by reducing the 
number of sites to which dopamine can bind.

220
00:12:46,385 --> 00:12:51,208
Well, then, between hits, or during withdrawal,
when the addict isn't taking the drug,

221
00:12:51,208 --> 00:12:55,757
their brains end up having not 
enough dopamine after all of that.

222
00:12:55,757 --> 00:12:59,542
So they start out taking cocaine 
in order to feel high,

223
00:12:59,542 --> 00:13:02,844
and they end up taking it 
in order not to feel low.

224
00:13:02,844 --> 00:13:05,474
>>[Dr. Drew] Every addict has experience
with being able to start and stop it

225
00:13:05,474 --> 00:13:06,641
earlier in their disease;

226
00:13:06,641 --> 00:13:09,840
that's what makes it so difficult for them
to accept that they can't, later on.

227
00:13:11,738 --> 00:13:14,228
♪ [music like from old TV shows] ♪

228
00:13:14,228 --> 00:13:17,807
>>[Mr. Sanders] Children, what do you think
causes addiction to drugs in humans?

229
00:13:17,807 --> 00:13:22,342
>>[Mary] The neurons in the brain adapt and 
respond to excessive stimulation from the drugs,

230
00:13:22,342 --> 00:13:25,572
causing molecular changes that lead to 
cravings when the drug is not present.

231
00:13:25,572 --> 00:13:27,838
>>[Mr. Sanders] That is one possibility, Mary.

232
00:13:27,838 --> 00:13:29,123
Tommy, what do you think?

233
00:13:29,123 --> 00:13:32,389
>>[Tommy] I've read that addiction 
can also be traced to genetics,

234
00:13:32,389 --> 00:13:36,401
which (when combined with trauma) can 
lead the addict to seek relief from reality.

235
00:13:36,401 --> 00:13:37,465
>>[Mr. Sanders] Perhaps, Tommy.

236
00:13:37,465 --> 00:13:39,688
But I believe addiction occurs 
when someone you love

237
00:13:39,688 --> 00:13:43,255
suddenly decides you're too needy
and throws your clothes out on the lawn.

238
00:13:43,255 --> 00:13:45,529
>>[Tommy] Gee, Mr. Sanders, I sure 
hope science finds a cure for that

239
00:13:45,529 --> 00:13:46,739
by the time I'm older.

240
00:13:46,739 --> 00:13:48,967
>>[Mr. Sanders] I wouldn't count on it, Tommy.

241
00:13:48,967 --> 00:13:51,428
[sound of old film reel ending]

242
00:13:53,838 --> 00:13:55,223
>>[Dr. Drew] You've got a family 
history of addiction there,

243
00:13:55,223 --> 00:13:56,365
you see a genetic predisposition,

244
00:13:56,365 --> 00:14:00,716
there's some sort of environmental trigger -- 
oftentimes, it's trauma -- set up...

245
00:14:00,716 --> 00:14:01,531
>>[Bill Nye] What's a trauma?

246
00:14:01,531 --> 00:14:04,831
>>[Dr. Drew] Trauma would be-- usually a 
childhood trauma is what we're talking about

247
00:14:04,831 --> 00:14:07,099
and it's an experience of 
powerlessness in childhood;

248
00:14:07,099 --> 00:14:10,731
a feeling that they're threatened with 
not being able to survive, quite literally.

249
00:14:10,731 --> 00:14:13,081
And you're 15 and you feel out 
of control and life sort of sucks,

250
00:14:13,081 --> 00:14:14,231
and you can't figure out what's going on,

251
00:14:14,231 --> 00:14:17,250
you can't feel good about yourself 
or what you're feeling.

252
00:14:17,250 --> 00:14:19,548
You look for solutions and 
somebody hands you a joint

253
00:14:19,548 --> 00:14:21,838
and oh, things are okay now!

254
00:14:43,432 --> 00:14:46,082
>>[Bill Nye] We're gonna run 
a little test here, right?

255
00:14:46,082 --> 00:14:49,962
We're gonna have these people 
drink what they think is beer...

256
00:14:51,342 --> 00:14:52,619
but there's no alcohol.

257
00:14:52,619 --> 00:14:53,854
>>[Dr. George] Correct.

258
00:14:53,854 --> 00:14:57,044
>>[Dr. Marlatt] Some people think 
it's just a biological disease, period.

259
00:14:57,044 --> 00:15:00,996
But we're saying that's PART of it,
but the psychological factors

260
00:15:00,996 --> 00:15:06,178
and the social factors and the 
cultural factors play also a big role.

261
00:15:06,178 --> 00:15:07,953
>>[Bill Nye] So what do we expect to happen?

262
00:15:07,953 --> 00:15:11,936
>>[Dr. Marlatt] Well, we're gonna see 
if we get a sort of placebo effect

263
00:15:11,936 --> 00:15:14,751
in the sense that people,
if they think they're drinking alcohol

264
00:15:14,751 --> 00:15:18,053
and they're in a bar setting 
and they're with other people,

265
00:15:18,053 --> 00:15:21,768
how much of the effects are due to alcohol

266
00:15:21,768 --> 00:15:25,169
and how much are due to the setting 
and the expectancy and they contact high?

267
00:15:25,169 --> 00:15:28,194
>>[Bill Nye, narrating] Dr. George and I 
are now observing behind a mirror

268
00:15:28,194 --> 00:15:30,628
while Dr. Marlatt plays bartender.

269
00:15:30,628 --> 00:15:33,267
>>[Man] Here's to science.
[Glasses clink together.]

270
00:15:33,267 --> 00:15:36,468
>>[Dr. George] I'm looking for the usual types

271
00:15:36,468 --> 00:15:38,478
of changes that you see in 
people after they have a drink,

272
00:15:38,478 --> 00:15:42,093
which are feeling a little bit more relaxed,
being a little more sociable,

273
00:15:42,093 --> 00:15:45,643
perhaps a little giggly, being a little looser.

274
00:15:45,643 --> 00:15:48,015
[Cheering, glasses clinking]

275
00:15:50,425 --> 00:15:52,543
>>[Man, unclear]

276
00:16:02,202 --> 00:16:04,377
[overlapping chatter]

277
00:16:04,377 --> 00:16:06,953
>>[Dr. George] Those are the 
typical types of things that happen

278
00:16:06,953 --> 00:16:09,030
when folks normally drink alcohol,

279
00:16:09,030 --> 00:16:12,048
and so, as a consequence, 
those are their expectations.

280
00:16:12,048 --> 00:16:13,732
And that belief is so strong

281
00:16:13,732 --> 00:16:18,418
that just believing that they've been 
drinking can stir up those effects.

282
00:16:20,677 --> 00:16:23,421
>>[Dr. Marlatt] I'm gonna tell you something
now about what you've been drinking.

283
00:16:23,421 --> 00:16:25,287
Somebody asked about what brands.

284
00:16:25,287 --> 00:16:28,306
These were the beers; they're alcohol-free.

285
00:16:28,306 --> 00:16:30,344
[various reactions]

286
00:16:30,344 --> 00:16:33,932
>>[Bill Nye] Ladies and gentlemen...

287
00:16:33,932 --> 00:16:37,249
It's really cool. You guys were carrying on

288
00:16:37,249 --> 00:16:39,738
like you were just drinking, 
you know, a lot of beer.

289
00:16:39,738 --> 00:16:41,539
Not that I've ever done that.

290
00:16:41,539 --> 00:16:43,190
>>[Some participants laugh.]

291
00:16:43,190 --> 00:16:44,439
>>[Bill Nye] So let me ask you this:

292
00:16:44,439 --> 00:16:47,274
Do you think it would change 
the way you drink in the future?

293
00:16:47,274 --> 00:16:50,580
>>[Participant] We could still 
have fun without getting drunk?

294
00:16:50,580 --> 00:16:52,285
>>[Bill Nye] That might be one conclusion.

295
00:16:52,285 --> 00:16:53,857
>>[laughter from participants]

296
00:16:53,857 --> 00:16:55,228
>>[Bill Nye] So I just noticed,

297
00:16:55,228 --> 00:16:57,592
as soon as you guys found out,
nobody's drinking anything.

298
00:16:57,592 --> 00:16:59,198
>>[laughter from participants]

299
00:16:59,826 --> 00:17:03,373
>>[Man] Ray! Big meeting in 15 minutes.
C'mon! Put your game face on. Let's go!

300
00:17:03,373 --> 00:17:09,092
>>[Ray] Uh, okay, um...

301
00:17:09,092 --> 00:17:15,640
♪ [jazzy elevator music] ♪

302
00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:22,150
♪ ♪

303
00:17:23,517 --> 00:17:24,906
>>[Man] Hey, Ray. What's up?

304
00:17:24,906 --> 00:17:29,251
>>[Ray] Oh, we got a big meeting in 15 minutes
and I thought I'd have a quick smoke.

305
00:17:33,228 --> 00:17:37,831
[sighs] Oh, geez, I guess 
I left them on my desk.

306
00:17:37,831 --> 00:17:40,617
>>[Man] Oh. That was my last one.

307
00:17:45,136 --> 00:17:47,257
>>[Dr. Drew, to an audience] 
So let's talk about cocaine.

308
00:17:47,257 --> 00:17:49,766
So you're using cocaine, 
you get going with crack.

309
00:17:49,766 --> 00:17:52,859
What does that look like when you start?
Are you with friends? Are you by yourself?

310
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:55,257
>>[Woman] In the beginning, you're with friends.

311
00:17:55,257 --> 00:17:56,612
>>[Dr. Drew] You're with friends, 
you're hanging out,

312
00:17:56,612 --> 00:17:59,310
[unclear] you're at a party, 
you start smoking crack...

313
00:17:59,310 --> 00:18:00,626
♪ [sirens] ♪

314
00:18:00,626 --> 00:18:03,531
The first time you take a hit,
the first hit of that [unclear].

315
00:18:03,531 --> 00:18:05,566
How does that feel? 
>>[Man] Awesome.

316
00:18:05,566 --> 00:18:07,565
>>[Dr. Drew] How about the second?
How about the second hit?

317
00:18:07,565 --> 00:18:08,983
[distorted speech] How does that feel?

318
00:18:08,983 --> 00:18:10,282
>>[Man] Not quite as good.
>>[Dr. Drew] Not quite as good.

319
00:18:10,282 --> 00:18:11,316
How about the 100th hit?

320
00:18:11,316 --> 00:18:13,999
>>[Woman] You're just kinda like, 
"Why am I even doing this?'

321
00:18:13,999 --> 00:18:16,466
[distorted speech] That's the insanity.

322
00:18:16,466 --> 00:18:20,165
>>[Dr. Drew] Let's say now, we're about 
36 hours into this. Where are you?

323
00:18:20,165 --> 00:18:22,965
>>[Woman] Underneath the tables.
>>[Another woman] In the closet.

324
00:18:22,965 --> 00:18:25,449
>>[Dr. Drew] Under the table, closet...
>[Woman] Locked in a motel room.

325
00:18:25,449 --> 00:18:26,832
>>[Dr. Drew] Locked in a motel room;

326
00:18:26,832 --> 00:18:27,966
brightly lit with the curtains open?

327
00:18:27,966 --> 00:18:29,132
>>[several] No.

328
00:18:29,132 --> 00:18:30,283
>>[Dr. Drew] Who's with you?
>>[several] Nobody.

329
00:18:30,283 --> 00:18:33,949
>>[Dr. Drew] Nobody. You're by yourself.
Who do you see outside?

330
00:18:33,949 --> 00:18:35,615
>>[various responses] Everyone, police, the CIA.

331
00:18:35,615 --> 00:18:38,732
>>[Dr. Drew] Police, CIA, who else? Who else?
FBI. Uniformed officers.

332
00:18:38,732 --> 00:18:41,599
You look out the window.
Where do you see them?

333
00:18:41,599 --> 00:18:43,932
>>[Someone] The trees.
>>[Dr. Drew] The trees! The palm trees!

334
00:18:43,932 --> 00:18:45,081
>>[several laugh]

335
00:18:45,081 --> 00:18:46,617
>>[Dr. Drew] You're in a dark room
with a single light bulb.

336
00:18:46,617 --> 00:18:50,482
Your fingers are burned, you're under the table,
you're looking out at the LAPD in the palm trees.

337
00:18:50,482 --> 00:18:52,384
Why don't you stop smoking crack?

338
00:18:52,384 --> 00:18:56,172
You know, you KNOW, not only are you 
NOT going to get what you got that first hit;

339
00:18:56,172 --> 00:18:59,564
with each subsequent hit, you're gonna 
feel crappier and crappier and crappier.

340
00:18:59,564 --> 00:19:02,799
So you just stop, right? No, when do you stop?

341
00:19:02,799 --> 00:19:04,153
>>[Man] You can't.
>>[Dr. Drew] You can't.

342
00:19:04,153 --> 00:19:05,350
>>[Someone] When you run out of money.

343
00:19:05,350 --> 00:19:07,699
>>[Dr. Drew] When you can't get it anymore.
[He chuckles.] That's when they stop.

344
00:19:07,699 --> 00:19:12,598
They know hit #2, that they're heading down 
this path to just misery and can't stop.

345
00:19:13,504 --> 00:19:21,870
>>[Man] There's nothing that anyone can do, 
say, or-- No way can they really help you stop

346
00:19:21,870 --> 00:19:26,138
until you decide inside for yourself: 
"I've had it."

347
00:19:26,138 --> 00:19:28,720
>>[Another man] One has to be sick 
and tired of being sick and tired.

348
00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:33,758
When you get tired of just getting 
ran over by a truck everyday...

349
00:19:33,758 --> 00:19:38,575
>>[Woman] It doesn't matter the level of losses,
the level of death, the level of financial --

350
00:19:38,575 --> 00:19:43,192
How many times people have been to prison.
When is it enough? You just have to be done.

351
00:19:43,192 --> 00:19:45,858
>>[Dr. Drew] If all I had to do was 
convince addicts they needed to stop,

352
00:19:45,858 --> 00:19:47,341
my job would be very easy.

353
00:19:47,341 --> 00:19:52,404
The problem is, I get them on their knees,
begging for some help with stopping.

354
00:19:52,404 --> 00:19:53,330
>>[Someone] Mm-hmm.

355
00:19:53,330 --> 00:19:55,677
>>[Dr. Drew] Their lives are being destroyed.

356
00:19:55,677 --> 00:19:58,203
They want to stop in the most sincere 
way they know; they can't do it.

357
00:20:36,027 --> 00:20:37,367
Addicts have a misconception

358
00:20:37,387 --> 00:20:40,188
that they can just get off the drugs,
get through the withdrawal, and that's it.

359
00:20:40,188 --> 00:20:42,405
But no, the hardest part is staying off the drug,

360
00:20:42,405 --> 00:20:45,955
and some of that is the result of 
the chronic changes the brain is in.

361
00:20:45,955 --> 00:20:47,921
But the real significant changes --

362
00:20:47,921 --> 00:20:51,571
the the feeling of loss, irritability,
mood lability -- goes about a year.

363
00:20:51,571 --> 00:20:53,171
Pinsky's Rule is one year.

364
00:20:53,171 --> 00:20:54,655
>>[Bill Nye] Pinsky's Rule.
>>[Dr. Drew] Pinsky's Rule.

365
00:20:54,655 --> 00:20:56,804
It takes one year to get the brain
back to normal after addiction,

366
00:20:56,804 --> 00:20:58,838
and by "normal," it's still never really normal

367
00:20:58,838 --> 00:20:59,921
because they always have drives

368
00:20:59,921 --> 00:21:02,397
that are activated by cues or 
exposure to these chemicals.

369
00:21:02,397 --> 00:21:03,174
>>[Bill Nye] Mm-hmm.

370
00:21:03,174 --> 00:21:07,338
>>[Woman] I have a drug counselor in an
outpatient program who always says to me,

371
00:21:07,338 --> 00:21:11,069
"Your addiction is sitting in that corner 
over there doing one-armed pushups.

372
00:21:11,069 --> 00:21:13,320
He's just waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting."

373
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,036
>>[Man off-screen] Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

374
00:21:28,761 --> 00:21:30,544
>>[Bill Nye] It the costs of addiction are so high

375
00:21:30,544 --> 00:21:34,739
and the substances that get you 
addicted are so common in nature,

376
00:21:34,739 --> 00:21:39,161
then how can these genes 
for addiction have persisted?

377
00:21:39,161 --> 00:21:42,396
Why weren't these people 
selected out by evolution?

378
00:21:42,396 --> 00:21:45,547
Nobody knows for sure 
but there must be a reason,

379
00:21:45,547 --> 00:21:48,653
and there are some pretty interesting theories.

380
00:21:48,653 --> 00:21:53,046
>>[The addicts I know were rich, phenomenal, 
intelligent, interesting human beings.

381
00:21:53,046 --> 00:21:54,646
>>[Bill Nye. off screen ] Bright.
>>[Dr. Drew] Bright! Brighter than average.

382
00:21:54,646 --> 00:21:59,713
This cannot be all bad. There must be something
here that has caused this gene to be perpetuated.

383
00:21:59,713 --> 00:22:04,046
It should have burned out centuries ago
if it really were just all about a disease.

384
00:22:04,046 --> 00:22:08,329
Then i saw the movie "Braveheart,"
and I watched 10,000 guys go into battle.

385
00:22:08,329 --> 00:22:10,879
Three guys survived, the three 
remaining were alcoholics,

386
00:22:10,879 --> 00:22:12,579
and I thought, "Of course. Of course."

387
00:22:12,579 --> 00:22:14,646
They are so activated by thrill

388
00:22:14,646 --> 00:22:19,844
that these incredibly overwhelming situations 
for a normal person, they're somehow--

389
00:22:19,844 --> 00:22:22,062
Time slows down, they're focused, they're into it.

390
00:22:22,062 --> 00:22:28,516
If you look at populations of humans that have
[withstood] repeated military genocidal assaults,

391
00:22:28,516 --> 00:22:31,173
you find a refinement of the gene for alcohol.

392
00:22:31,173 --> 00:22:32,428
>>[Bill Nye] Give me an example.]

393
00:22:32,428 --> 00:22:34,305
>>[Dr. Drew] Scottish. Irish. 
North American Indian,

394
00:22:34,305 --> 00:22:35,788
Central Europeans --

395
00:22:35,788 --> 00:22:39,278
populations that have just 
withstood incredible atrocities.

396
00:22:39,278 --> 00:22:41,785
So I started going back to my patient group.

397
00:22:41,785 --> 00:22:45,253
I give lectures every week, and I say,
"Guys, what would happen..."

398
00:22:45,253 --> 00:22:46,351
(150 patients in the room)

399
00:22:46,351 --> 00:22:49,485
"What would happen if Attila the Hun
and a thousand hordes came over the hill.

400
00:22:49,485 --> 00:22:50,584
What would you guys do?"

401
00:22:50,584 --> 00:22:53,701
Almost to a person, they'd say, 
"I'd pick something up and I'd run at them."

402
00:22:53,701 --> 00:22:57,566
I'm thinking, "Are you guys high right now?"
[chuckling] "Are you using drugs today?"

403
00:22:57,566 --> 00:22:59,567
>>[Bill Nye, off screen] 
You wouldn't run away, you'd run toward them.``

404
00:22:59,567 --> 00:23:00,534
>>[Dr. Drew] They'd run towards the action.

405
00:23:00,534 --> 00:23:02,375
I said, "Well, how about if a bomb
blew up in the parking lot?"

406
00:23:02,375 --> 00:23:03,932
[They'd say] "Oh, I'd go over 
there and check it out."

407
00:23:03,932 --> 00:23:05,649
They go TOWARDS the action,

408
00:23:05,649 --> 00:23:10,036
and I guess, in military circumstances, 
being able to go at the action

409
00:23:10,036 --> 00:23:13,856
and keep your wits about you makes 
you survive, and that's evolution.

410
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,116
>>[Bill Nye] When you first start using drugs,
there's a time when you have a choice.

411
00:23:20,376 --> 00:23:24,892
You really could quit if you wanted.
It's a window of opportunity.

412
00:23:24,892 --> 00:23:30,892
But how long that window stays open depends on
the person, the drug, and the circumstances;

413
00:23:30,892 --> 00:23:35,276
because sooner or later, 
that window is gonna close.

414
00:23:35,276 --> 00:23:38,542
And when it does, you no longer have a choice.

415
00:23:38,542 --> 00:23:41,169
Now, you have a disease.

416
00:23:44,846 --> 00:23:48,179
>>[Announcer] We've covered a lot of ground,
but it's just the tip of the iceberg.

417
00:23:48,192 --> 00:23:52,268
Check out EyesOfNye.org for more cool science.

418
00:23:57,983 --> 00:24:01,378
♪ [Fast-paced digital music 
plays during ending credits.] ♪

419
00:24:01,378 --> 00:24:03,980
♪ ♪

420
00:24:03,980 --> 00:24:06,178
>>[singers] ♪The eyes of Nye! ♪

421
00:24:06,178 --> 00:24:28,666
♪ ♪

422
00:24:28,666 --> 00:24:39,542
♪ Nye... Nye... Nye... ♪

423
00:24:39,542 --> 00:24:42,206
♪ The Eyes of Nye ♪

424
00:24:42,206 --> 00:24:56,801
♪ ♪

425
00:24:56,801 --> 00:24:59,035
[END]