There are so many different kinds of drugs. From marijuana all the way to crack cocaine, there are differences in creation and even the addictiveness. There isn’t some kind of machine to measure how addictive a drug is. But there are a few ways to measure how addictive a drug is. For example, is it how many people are addicted to it overall? Could it potentially be the potency of a drug and how many people get addicted after they try it?
There is one scientific way to measure it, and that’s with the Henningfield Ratings and the Benowitz Ratings. They measured six different substances and put them on a 1-6 scale into different categories:
- Withdrawal: The severity of the withdrawal symptoms.
- Reinforcement: A measure of how many people prefer a substance over other substances.
- Tolerance: How much of a substance is needed to satisfy increasing cravings.
- Dependence: Is it hard to quit?
- Intoxication: The quantity of social and personal damage that is done by a substance.
While it’s not perfect, it gives a good measure of what kind of drugs to be wary of. Here are some of the most addicting drugs on the planet.
Five Addictive Drugs
Alcohol
Because alcohol is legal, many don’t associate it with a high chance of addiction. Both of the scales above, the Henningfield Ratings and Benowitz Ratings, rated alcohol as having the worst withdrawal process and the highest intoxication effects.
While alcohol might not have the same addictive qualities as something like heroin, there is a giant scope that isn’t available with any other drug. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence reported that 17.6 million people abuse or are dependent on alcohol. In fact, alcohol might be the most destructive substance in the U.S. today.
Cocaine
Both scales had difficulty find a unanimous places for cocaine. But they agree that it’s one of the worst drugs that they profiled. It was rated has having the highest reinforcement, but Benowitz rated it the worst. He said cocaine had the worst tolerance effects.
DrugAbuse.gov reported that about 450,000 Americans have tried cocaine at least once in their life. While that’s not quite as severe as alcohol, this is still a substantial part of the country. It would be about the size of the 42nd city in the U.S., Miami, Florida. While not massive, it’s still a substantial amount of people. Cocaine is frequently produced in the Southern Hemisphere or in Central America and brought over to the U.S. through the southern borders.
Heroin
Heroin might be the worst of the illicit drugs. Not only does it destroy lives without reason and shame, it’s rather easy to find. The opioid derives from the opium poppy in the Middle East. Both of the indexes consistently rated heroin as a severe drug. It was considered the most severe and second most severe in every category on the board.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 4.2 million Americans have used heroin at least once. So these ratings should come as no surprise. Many of the people who turn to heroin are turning from pain pills such as OxyContin because heroin is much cheaper.
Benzodiazepines
Nicknamed benzos, these medications have a ridiculous high chance of abuse. Drugs like Xanax and Valium are used to reduce anxiety. They’re generally abused to help a person relax, which leads to a high chance of dependence in people with high anxiety levels. Some benzos also help people fall and stay asleep for long periods of time. Where benzos are especially sinister is when it comes to withdrawal. Getting through benzo detox is painful and is quite a long process, which is why many people give up halfway through detox. Benzos weren’t rated by the scientists.
Methamphetamine
Meth also wasn’t rated by the two scientists, but it’s a vicious drug that is well-known in many blue-collar areas around the country. In fact, 1.2 million people reported using meth in the past month, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Much of the abuse is done by blue-collar while males in rural areas far from the cities, but that doesn’t eliminate city use. Meth users frequently develop “meth mouth” and have aggressive tendencies.
