Chooper's Guide ... the Internet's most comprehensive substance abuse treatment, prevention and intervention resource directory.

"Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disorder characterized by neurobiological changes that lead to a compulsion to take a drug with loss of control over drug intake".

We believe that the time has come!

We at Chooper's Guide are excited by the advances in neurobiology and the potential that this new knowledge and technology promises in diagnosing and treating addiction disorders.

Our vision is that as science continues to provide empirical data documenting addiction as a "brain disorder", addiction will cease to be viewed as an act of volitional moral misconduct or associated with criminality and be perceived, treated and accepted as a healthcare problem. This change in society's perception of addiction would eradicate the stigma associated currently associated with addiction which would both encourage individuals to seek treatment and provide a post treatment environment that would promote sustainable recovery.  The social and economic implications of this perception and policy reversal are staggering. Thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars would be saved annually.

In the year 2020, we will look back in horror and shame at our social misconduct and ignorance. Society will realize that our treatment of these individuals has been comparable to prior periods in history (Salem Witch Trials, Holocaust) when ideology and ignorance dictated social policy and treatment of specific populations.