Folks develop tolerance to vitamins and antibiotics, don't they?
A lot of this has to do with the social effects of medication. Chronic major depressives and diabetes sufferers are often told they should expect to be on medication their entire life to "manage" their illness. This is dependency, in other words.
But folks who are dependent on drugs that are illegal are bad citizens. Dependency is suddenly a bad thing in this instance, in other words. And it's amazing how the psychiatric community can adjust its definitions to accommodate the legality of certain chemicals, politically decided. Dependency on some chemicals is bad; other times, it's perfectly fine and "medically necessary." But this is all socially determined, isn't it? Some folks may very well only become "functioning" individuals with the help of this or that chemical.
-B.
Michael Pollak wrote:
"Isn't there a qualitative difference between drugs that induce tolerance, so that dependence involves a spiraling increase in dosage, and in the resultant physical and mental strain, and dependence where dosage remains constant?"