THE GLOBALIZATION OF ADDICTION
BRUCE K. ALEXANDER1
Department of Psychology Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada, V5A 1S6
Addiction is endemic in western free-market society. This is because free markets inevitably dislocate people from traditional sources of psychological, social and spiritual support, and because "dislocation", in this broad sense of the term, is the precursor of addiction. Since free-market principles currently provide the blueprint for globalization, the prevalence of addiction is increasing everywhere. Analysis of addiction along these lines can lead addiction professionals to a view of their field that is both broader and more practical.
Keywords: Addiction; globalization; dislocation; free-market society; etiology
1. The article is dedicated to Ted Poole (1915-1999), a Canadian pioneer who helped to inspire it but had to move on before it was ready for him to read. ↩