> What is it about some people that they can try some chemicals once and abandon them, while lots of other people simply cannot stop? Is it genetic, philosophic

> What is it about some people that they can try some chemicals once and abandon them, while lots of other people simply cannot stop? Is it genetic, philosophical, or environmental? Like most things, it's probably a combination of genetics and environment. From what I've observed, it really seems like some drugs mesh with some brain chemistries and not others. Case in point: when I was a young teenager, I wanted to be cool, and I tried smoking cigarettes with the cool kids. I've probably smoked 50 cigarettes in my life. At no point did I ever feel the pull of nicotine. It just never did anything to me. That's surprising because I know a lot of people who quickly got hooked and can't quit even if they want to. I've also tried pot: it makes me terribly paranoid and is a sure fire way to ruin my day, so pot has negative appeal to me. On the other hand, I was also in the rave scene for a while. I've tried stimulants such as amphetamines and MDMA as well as ketamine. Those drugs all had a definite pull on me. I had to take a step back at some point because I was using them every weekend and it was starting to take a toll on my work. I eventually realized that I was going dancing not because I liked it that much, but because I was subconsciously trying to put myself in situations where I would do drugs (early signs of addiction IMO, and I'm glad I noticed). I think that when a chemical tickles your reward center in the right way, your brain starts subtly adjusting your behavior so you get that stimulus again. It will slowly creep up on you. If you aren't careful, you can lie to yourself, not notice what's happening, or not want to notice. If you're in a position where you don't like your life very much, it's easy to give in to that pull. I know that when I discovered party drugs, I was in a vulnerable place: I had low self esteem, my girlfriend and I had just broken up, I had very few friends, I was bored with my life, and I felt like going raving and taking MDMA was the only way I could feel connected with other people. The drugs filled a void in my life. They did add a lot of novelty and excitement too, and it took me a while to realize that they were making things worse, not better.