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Updated: May 27, 2026

Novel Apparatus and Method for Drug Reinforcement
Published on: August 20, 2010
Flaws of drug instrumentalization
Joel Swendsen1, Michel Le Moal
1Université de Bordeaux, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS 5287), 33000 Bordeaux cedex - France. Joel.Swendsen@u-bordeaux2.fr.
The concept of "drug instrumentalization" lacks scientific value and is not adaptive. This perspective carries dangerous implications for public health policy and drug use research.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Public Health
- Addiction Science
Background:
- The scientific literature has largely overlooked the concept of drug instrumentalization.
- Drug instrumentalization is often framed as an adaptive behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate the concept of drug instrumentalization.
- To demonstrate the limited nosological value of drug instrumentalization.
- To highlight the dangerous public health and policy implications of viewing drug use as adaptive.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of drug instrumentalization.
- Critique of the adaptive framing of drug use.
- Examination of policy and public health ramifications.
Main Results:
- The concept of drug instrumentalization offers limited value from a nosological perspective.
- Drug instrumentalization should not be considered an adaptive behavior.
- The framing of drug instrumentalization poses significant risks to public health policy.
Conclusions:
- The concept of drug instrumentalization is scientifically unsound and potentially harmful.
- Re-evaluating drug use through an adaptive lens is detrimental to effective public health strategies.
- Further research should focus on evidence-based approaches rather than problematic conceptualizations.
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