Ending addiction problems

A Sign of the Times for January 2007: Scientists have discovered the brain system responsible for maintaining the addiction to cigarette smoking has been identified. The discovery was made when it was found that individuals with damage to a portion of the brain called the insula lost the urge to smoke and never relapsed unlike the four out of five smokers who have tried to quit.

Commentary: What are the possible consequences if this were to come true? If this signal system works for nicotine, it is assumed it could work with other addictive products. Drug/alcohol clinics, nicotine patches, many counseling services would dry up. Drug producers/ traffickers would loose their market incrementally as the technique/medication spreads. Farmers trying to survive on drug crops will loose their business and be forced to grow something else lucrative. Courts may use the treatment as a sentence, thus eliminating many individuals from jail terms.

On the other hand drug use might continue and a huge market for insula signal medicine, possibly called "the day after" medicine might be the biggest selling medicine ever created!