“Free choice only comes from thinking, it doesn’t come from emotions. It emerges from the capacity to think about your emotions. When you’re operating in the habit mode you are feeling, but those feelings are not being reflected upon. They are too powerful, they are too habitual. So, the treatment of addiction requires the island of relief where a need to soothe pain does not constantly drive a person’s motivation. It requires a complex and supportive social environment.” How to create that island of relief is the core issue in projecting a humane policy toward addiction.
