The neuroendocrinologist Robert Sapolsky remarked to me, “The fact that most people don’t get addicted to addictive substances [despite their powerful effect on brain chemicals] or, if they do, eventually stop using is fascinating.” And he’s right. One in ten Americans say they’ve gotten over a prior drug or alcohol problem. Half of those people got over it on their own. In any given year, a person with a substance abuse issue has about a 15 percent chance of quitting. The years pile up, and by age thirty half of people who report problematic substance use have quit. “There’s
