In the late 1800’s many Union and Confederate soldiers became addicted to morphine, stemming from the usage of the beneficial pain-killing effect of the medicine. Could this have set up our generation with an epigenetic predisposition for addiction to the drug? Is the problem “nature” or “nurture” based?
The Interaction between Epigenetics, Nutrition and the Development of Cancer
darrellbarnes.blog 
I feel anything could have set this off, so it very possible that this was one of the reasons.
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There are elements of the nature side that could manifest weaknesses within an individual. It is possible that due to genetics, a person may have a natural disposition that’s more at risk of developing issues with drugs/addiction if there is a historical past of such issues within their family. Knowledge about ancestors can help gain a proper understanding of past challenges that are relate-able to current situations. Although nature may be an element of an addictive disorder, the nurture of the choices a person makes will be what nurtures and causes addiction to amplify and grow
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In all the comment they made some valid points. That i was about to make myself.
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The article was very interesting to read. I believe genetics play a key role in any addiction and your environment can have great impact on your choices. Regardless of the poison it’s your choice to use or not to use. Genetically addiction can put you more at risk but the cycle can be broken, that is choice your as well.
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I do think genetics does have something to do with addiction but it’s not the only blame. Alcoholism has been proven to be genetic but you still have the choice about whether or not to start drinking.
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I agree that it is mostly nurture because it is a choice wether or not you put morphine in your body; however, I can also see where it could also be nature based.
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I believe it is a choice, however, I also believe that these individuals don’t fully grasp the consequences of their actions, especially kids. They think they can stop whenever they want to. When they realize they can’t it is usually too late. I believe instead of just incarcerating drug addicts and setting them up to keep coming back through the system, we need to rehabilitate them. One wrong choice should not mean a lifetime of suffering.
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I totally agree, i eat spring mix so im totally on board with this. Everyone should read this and make this decision.
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Very interesting and such a good point about the epidemic.
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I think the morphine epidemic is a very big problem in our society any epidemic is a problem that we all have to work to solve.
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It is both nature and nurture. There are receptors in the brain that become addicted to all different types of things like morphine, nicotine, caffeine and other substances.
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I believe epigenetics could play a role in how a person could react when exposed to morphine, therefore would be linked to nature. How a person begins taking morphine or is exposed to it could be linked to nurture. I have known many full blooded siblings that are completely different, one is addicted to the drug and the other completely opposed to it. I believe who you hang around is who you become, if you hang around people who do it and are therefore okay with you doing it then you are more prone to become addicted to it. If you never try something in the first place then you can never get addicted to it.
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I think it could possibly be both, but I believe it has alot to do with the effects of the drug and how a person body responds to that drug. If the drugs are given for “pain” that means “most” people probably don’t go out seeking the drug automatically it is usually given to help relieve them of suffering, and so some may become “addicted” from the first dose depending on how the drug reacts with their body.
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I believe that the drug epidemic could stem from both. Nature in the fact of a mother doing drugs while pregnant and then that child is born addicted to drugs. That leads to that child having to fight twice as hard to stay clean and being a normal functional kid. Nurture in the fact of people choose to do drugs. No one forces you too. It definitely doesn’t help when you hang around people who do drugs all the time because you are more prone to do drugs to have those friends. So i do believe to an extent being hooked on drugs has to do with both nature and nurture.
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well stated
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I think it is a little of both nuture and nature. even before than people have been getting addicted to this and other drugs.
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I think the morphine epidemic is nature based. In the experience I witnessed, the addiction started with the people that the addict hung around. With peer pressure being what it is today, when you find yourself in a situation of “trying just once won’t kill you” makes it hard to walk away and the next thing you know, if you haven’t killed yourself you have definitely alienated yourself from your family (kids included) and friends to find those that understand and want the same thing you do.
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I think genetics is a possibility but overall I think addiction is nurture based, being addicted is a choice.
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I believe that this is a nuture. As a child if you were around this, because your parents or someone you lived with did this then yes you could become addicted to this drug, but you also have a choice in what you do.
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I’m all the way nuture, these men where fighting a war, they were wounded so the pain med was to try to keep them comfortable . Nowadays people just use drug as a pastime or recreation.
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I feel like you could get addicted to a drug because that’s what you grew up around but it’s also your choice to do it. you could stop yourself from doing the drug then you wouldn’t be addicted. it’s the persons choice.
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I think addiction could be both because if you grow with someone with addiction it comes almost natural to you, you almost see nothing wrong in it but also nurture based because it is your decision to choose whatever addiction comes to you. You see the consequences that come with it and still decide to do it.
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I believe it is nurture based. We have to consider the trauma and the violent environment that they were in during the time of service.
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Some people are born with a more addictive personality, but their additions do not have to be drug based. Anything in life can be abused. Some people over eat, or exercise to much, or choose more common known “addictions”. I do not think that people are genetically inclined to choose drugs. I think nuture plays the biggest part.
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I believe that addiction is nurture based. We all are products of our environment, but we choose whether or not it defines who we are as individuals. Someone who is surrounded by addicts every day could be sober his/her whole life. Then again someone who has never been around drugs could become an addict. We decide what we do with our lives.
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I believe that it is nurture based. You are the one who controls what is put in your body.
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In the rough frontier of early America, opiates helped ease the pain brought on by such ailments as smallpox, cholera and dysentery.
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The problem might be nurture because the affects of the body wanting more can become an addiction by encourging the body to resist the pain with medicine and it’s the soldiers choice whether it’s right or wrong.
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It’s nurture over nature since people don’t often develop addictions unless they live in a situation where they are constantly around the substance. Although some people are more prone to addiction than others, drug abuse is preventable.
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I remember always hearing people say that an addictive personality can be inherited, but I wasn’t sure if I believed that. I feel as though the environment has more influence on someone “inheriting” an addictive personality, versus the person “inheriting” the addictive trait genetically. It all depends on someone’s decision making and discipline skills.
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I personally believe genetics can play a huge role in addictions but at the end of the day you make the choice in all your actions
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Personally, I feel that addiction is something you seek in desperate times. When you are stressed, upset, sad, mad – some people feel that it can take the pain away. Genetics may be involved, but I believe that drug use is prominent today because of the choices people make. You always have a choice.
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I believe that addiction is nurture based. You can control what you put into your body so you can control how you use or misuse “treatments”. I don’t think it has much to do with genetics. that’s like saying my parents smoke cigarettes so I also have to.
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I definitely believe the addiction is nurture based due to the fact that we all have a choice. We might like to think that such an addiction can’t be helped or stopped but in my opinion that is just the minds way of finding any reason to try & excuse ones actions.
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I believe it is nurture based. People can choose to take it or not.
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I feel as though the problem is nurture based, rather than that of nature. Though nature may play a small role in the problem, it most definitely is not the main cause of the addiction. That person has a choice in the midst of it all, and it is up to them to wean themselves off the drugs, or continue nurturing them.
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I believe this epidemic is nature based. Some may argue otherwise, but addiction is choice.
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Nurture all the way. Late 1800s epidemic is not really a good fallback to the crises we are in now in todays time with todays modernizations
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While others might have a difference in opinion, I believe that it is nurture based. I believe addiction is a choice. At the start of forming the addiction, it has to start with a choice. Once the choice is made and the habitual act is performed, the addiction gets stronger and harder to overcome.
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I see both aspects of nature and nurture, however I do lean more towards nurture. When you put something like that into your body, it chemically effects you directly not the person next to you. I think it is more of a personal nurturing habit, rather than the nature of the drug. The drug has real uses that do tremendous things for people in need of it. I do not think that one specific time in history has set up today to be pressed with morphine addiction.
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I believe being addicted to any drug is more nurture than anything. If nature had anything to do with it, I don’t think things such as morphine drips would exist. If genetics was the case, did the drug skip a generation? Was everyone in the family tree a user? These are factors we should take into consideration. I don’t believe our ancestors’ poor decisions caused this.
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I don’t believe the dependencies of our ancestors play a part in the person of today.Each person can make a decision with their own mind and it’s that persons decision that can decide which in return could result in dependency.
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I believe that it is nuture based because it’s is that person choice on whether or not to use morphine. But I also believe the things we put in our body does affect how we function.
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During the civil war, medicine for wounded or dying people was limited. Morphine was believed to be the cure all medicine, in which it was not. Even through the years in America, many illegal drugs today were believed to be the cure all also. Throughout history, this is seen many times.
Nurture
People with mental health disorders anything can become an addiction. Things like food, sex, exercising, attention, and much more. With mental health disorders becoming understood many have been recognized as genetically linked.
Nature
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I believe that the morphine dependency is nurture based. We could all have ancestors that had different dependencies, but I don’t think that gives us a natural dependency. Genetic factors could possibly make the person more prone to seek it out, sure. I believe in learned behaviors, and rather than genetic predisposition, genetic qualities and character traits that influence people to crave the nurture aspect of the drug, not necessarily the drug itself.
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I believe that genetics very well can play a part in how our bodies respond to addiction. Substances we put into our bodies play a huge role on how we can properly function.
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It could defenielty go either way being nature or nurture. The drug problem has been getting worse every generation. It is possible that this is what set up the problem to begin with. In the 1800s, with many soldiers getting injured, they just became used to being on a pain relieving drug; which is to be considered too.
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“The drug problem” has stayed the same throughout history. Once a drug becomes popular it doesn’t matter if it’s illegal or not. Some people think addiction to prescribed drugs and drugs that aren’t illegal are somewhat better for your health. Coffee, sugar, and caffeine are all drugs….so the “drug problem,” whatever that may be, isn’t anything new or relatively worse than it’s ever been…it’s just usually something different
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I think that the addiction is nurture based. Addiction can run in your family but your choices and your self control can help prevent you from becoming an addict. You aren’t born an addict. Your decisions are what lead you to become an addict.
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Completely agree with your opinion on this. Very well said!
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I completely agree people try to blame their problems and issues on their family and friends , when in reality they aren’t the ones forcing you to do it. At the end of the day addiction is a problem that a lot of people struggle with in our society.
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i agree with you on the fact that it can run in your family but its your choice and self control, but i do not agree with you when you say that your not born addicted… there are many babies born everyday with addiction because of the substances their mothers were taken while pregnant so therefore it is nurture when your an adult but when you born its nature.
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I believe it is nurture based because at the end of the day it is their choice. It is up to them whether they want to consume it or not even if they are around it.
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I agree with you. It is peoples choice whether they want to use drugs or not, And if they are around it then they will probably end up using the drug.
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I completely agree! I feel that it is someones own choice to use drugs. Even thought peer pressure is sometimes hard to deal with it doesn’t mean that just because someone else is choosing to consume a drug that is not healthy for them then that’s someone choice to continue to hang around people that are trying to attempt you whether you want to or not.
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Yes, although I find the topic extremely interesting and see how two parties might have a different view on this, I completely agree with you. We all have choices and when it comes down to it. That choice is only yours.
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nurture based… I believe that an addiction is a choice and can not be forced by the people around you
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I couldn’t agree more!Also how would we know if we are predisposed to this addiction when no two people are alike…who’s knows the type of reaction someone will have to a certain drug because we’re all wired a little differently.
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I agree with you. Overall. I think its a choice everyone makes.
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I completely agree with you! Everyone has a choice in life. And some decide to makes ones that are not the best for them!
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I suppose genetics could play a role in this, especially with hereditary mental health dissorders, but it’s also important to observe the eviorment surrounding the original subject. These are civil war soldiers being discussed, and I believe that kind of stress is an important variable to observe. With such tribulation, it’s only natural that a human would seek an escape such as opiate use.
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I agree. Though I believe it is nurture based because taking a drug is a choice, we also have to take into consideration the trauma and stress these men had to deal with.
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It could be genetics, but how much can be blame on genetics? If society held the drug user responsible, would that lower the amount of people who are addicted? I do believe some is due to past and genetics, but i also believe it is easy to access and lack of punishment makes it easy for people to get addicted.
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I think that genetics could possibly play a role. However, a choice is always made when drugs are involved. I believe. Maybe not with the Civil War soldiers. But today, there is a choice.
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