Can the brain be taught to prevent addiction?

[botas]

SWIM wonders that if the brain can change its chemistry and it can also manipulate levels of chemicals to regulate itself when a drug is being done nonstop, could you teach the brain to not get addicted, by doing a highly addictive drug like H or coke noncontinuously and a little at a time to get the brain to learn to not become addicted? SWIM is just messing around with theories here and wants to know if this could be effective to stop cravings after a drug session is over.

[Nicaine]

A person can definitely "learn" to avoid psychological addiction, to some degree anyway. Included in this is the ability to kick any addiction with much greater ease than in the beginning -- SWIM has achieved this himself. But AFAIK there's no way to train the brain to stop downregulating receptors and such, so there will always be some physical effects (depending on the substance).

P.S. as far as cravings go, they're merely physical sensations and as such can simply be ignored. So again, (psychologically speaking) much is possible.

[noHope]

You can't avoid tolerance. You can avoid addiction. Coke and H done regularly you will experience painful withdrawals from NO MATTER WHAT. It chemically alters your brain and you cannot stop that. Sometimes rehab centers give patients dopamine antagonists so users can't get high anymore.

Check out my thread for more info.