In a clip from the documentary “The Culture High,” Dr. Gabor Maté, a world-renowned speaker and best-selling author specializing in addiction, stress, and childhood development, explains why stigmatizing addiction and treating addicts like criminals is an ineffective strategy in the fight against addiction.

From the outside looking in, it seems an addict’s only problem is drugs. If he could just kick that habit, he would have the perfect life. She’s holding herself back with her incessant need to get high. It’s true that the downsides of drug use handedly outweigh the upsides, but drugs are not the addict's problem; they are the solution. I know so from personal experience. Albeit a poor solution, but it's a solution nonetheless.

Maté explains that addicts seek drugs to gain a sense of normalcy, and it's their attempt to solve a problem. As a heroin addict, I felt there was nothing the day could throw at me that couldn’t be remedied by heroin. It’s tantamount to plugging a damn with whatever’s around. It suffices for a little awhile, but eventually the levee will break.

Treating the disease of addiction comes down to finding a healthy and suitable solution for the addict’s problems that does not involve substance abuse. Unfortunately, this is where a lot of addicts fail on their road toward sobriety.

Drugs were a quick and easy fix for my own problems. Getting to the root of them, understanding why they arise, and how my own behavior plays into these problems is the goal of addiction therapy. Doing so is easier said than done.

Watch the video above to hear Maté breakdown why it's ineffective to punish the addict.