Substance abuse is a disease of the human brain: focus on alcohol.

Alcohol and substance abuse are prevalent in our society. Advances in neuroscience have led to a clearer understanding of the effects of abused substances on the brain. Clues are now available regarding how a person goes from a "user" to being addicted based on brain chemistry, anatomy, and genetic risk. During this process the person loses at least partial, if not complete, control, over their compulsive substance use. This article attempts to put modern notions of alcohol and substance abuse and dependency into a societal and cultural context with the hope of reducing the stigma of this illness while shifting the focus a bit more away from criminal solutions to those offered by health care and treatment options.