The consensus among neuroscientists is that hard drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, exert their powerful grip on users by hijacking the brain’s natural reward system, heavily reliant on the neurotransmitter dopamine. When we engage in activities we find enjoyable, like eating delicious food or spending time with loved ones, dopamine levels surge in specific brain regions, creating a sense of satisfaction and reinforcing that behavior. So then we tend to seek the pleasurable stimuli in the future. Hard drugs like cocaine act as dopamine imposters. They flood the synapse (the ju…