Question: why is it that the brain gets addicted to drugs and cigarettes

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  1. Various receptors in the brain become used to certain chemicals so people might have feelings of anxiety or get headaches etc when the brain doesn’t receive those chemicals. People stop those addiction side effects by continuing to take a drug or smoke cigarettes.

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  2. I looked up ‘addiction’ on wikipedia and found this:

    Physiological (body system) dependence occurs when the body has to adjust to the substance by incorporating the substance into its ‘normal’ functioning. This state creates the conditions of tolerance and withdrawal.

    Tolerance is the process by which the body continually adapts to the substance and requires increasingly larger amounts to achieve the original effects. Withdrawal refers to physical (body) and psychological (mind) symptoms experienced when reducing or discontinuing a substance that the body has become dependent on.

    Symptoms of withdrawal generally include but are not limited to anxiety, irritability, intense cravings for the substance, nausea, hallucinations, headaches, cold sweats, and tremors.

    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction

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