What Are The Most Addictive Drugs?

In order to answer this question you first need to define "addiction.” There are two ways of looking at this, clinically. First of all, one definition of addiction describes it as a behavioral disorder in which a person continues to participate in an activity that they know will result in negative consequences. This is how you can classify substance abuse and gambling in the same category. Secondly, though, addiction also refers to an extreme level of physical dependence on a substance.

In terms of substances or chemicals that are physically addictive, you may be surprised with what you find. While the ranking of the most addictive drugs in the world will vary depending on the source, experts seem to agree on which ones are indeed the most addictive. In terms of classification, amphetamines are, as you might expect, always near the top of the list, followed by some of the more powerful opiates. Ironically, although the majority of these lists will differ, the number one most addictive drug in the word is always the same.

Crack cocaine, which is a more powerful, smokeable version of cocaine ranks very closely to crystal methamphetamine and always within the top 5. They are both nearly equal in administration as well as effects and likelihood for addiction. In fact, you could argue that the only difference between them is that the latter is synthetic.

However, the most addictive substance in the world is nicotine, which is the active chemical in tobacco. Studies consistently show that while marijuana, caffeine, and alcohol are among the most commonly used drugs, especially in America, nicotine is the one with the highest rate of reinforcement (continued use) and dependence (difficulty with cessation). Perhaps what is most dangerous about this is that nicotine is the only "drug” in the top 5 that is legal!