A new class of drugs might finally convince society that addiction is about chemistry, not choices.
 | By Alexandra Sifferlin Senior Staff Editor, Opinion |
I was skeptical when I first learned about a new class of drugs that has been hailed as "a game changer" for weight loss, with Ozempic being one of the most well-known among them. And though I'm still watching closely for longer-term data, the drugs seem to be remarkably effective and to differ from stimulant-like drugs promoted in the past. |
What's interested me most about these drugs, also called GLP-1 receptor agonists, is the implication of their effectiveness on our understanding of obesity. Society has been slow to catch up with the science, but the medical consensus around weight has evolved away from the assumption that body size is simply a reflection of a person's lack of willpower. The fact that these drugs work so well further emphasizes that body size is much more than the sum of someone's personal lifestyle choices. |
Maia Szalavitz, a contributing writer for Opinion who covers addiction, told me that the drugs were causing a "huge stir" in the addiction world, an effect she wrote about this week in a guest essay. Anecdotally, some people using them have reported decreased desire for substances like alcohol. Addiction researchers are intrigued that the drugs appear to lessen a person's appetite without blunting the ability to experience pleasure — a desired outcome among people who use medications to fight addiction, like methadone and buprenorphine. |
Maia explains how the new obesity drugs as well as modern addiction drugs work. She argues that drugs like Ozempic may offer a new approach. "Discovering how the new weight loss medications alter appetite and the compulsive behavior that can be associated with it could offer new insight into the nature of pleasure and addictions," she writes. |
But most importantly, she argues that the effectiveness of these drugs should cut through stigma. "Seeing people change with ease on medication after years of struggle could help the public recognize that these are truly medical issues," she writes. "Simply by working the way they do, GLP-1 medications suggest that the difference between addicted people and others is chemistry, not choices." |
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