Dopamine activity also accounts for a curious fact reported by many drug addicts: that obtaining and preparing the substance gives them a rush, quite apart from the pharmaceutical effects that follow drug injection. “When I draw up the syringe, wrap the tie, and clean my arm, it’s like I’m already feeling a hit,” Celia, the pregnant woman described in Chapter Six, once told me. Many addicts confess that they’re as afraid of giving up the activities around drug use as they are of giving up the drugs themselves.
