94 scientists sign a letter: addiction is shaped by society, not just the brain

What is it about?

This is a letter to Nature, signed by 94 addiction researchers and scholars from around the world, challenging an editorial claim that addiction is a brain disease and that this view is uncontroversial among scientists. The signatories argue that framing addiction purely as a neurological malfunction ignores the well-documented roles of social conditions, psychological factors, cultural context, political environment, law and personal circumstances. They point to the substantial impact of public health campaigns and legislation in reducing substance use as evidence that addiction is shaped by far more than brain biology alone.

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Why is it important?

The brain disease model of addiction has dominated research funding, clinical practice and drug policy for decades. This letter, published in one of the world's highest-profile scientific journals, demonstrates that the model is not the consensus. Signed by leading addiction scientists across multiple disciplines and countries, it represents a formal, public challenge to a framing that critics argue narrows treatment options, sidelines social and structural interventions, and risks stigmatising people who use drugs by reducing their behaviour to biology. The letter helped catalyse an ongoing international debate about addiction theory, harm reduction policy and the limits of neuroscience as the primary lens for understanding substance use.

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