Psychologist Bruce Alexander, a Canadian researcher who has compared popular views of addiction to beliefs about demonic possession, has been awarded the Nora and Ted Sterling Prize for Controversy, the National Post reported Oct. 15.

The $5,000 prize, awarded at Simon Frazer University (SFU), celebrates those who take unpopular positions on a variety of subjects, from gun control to prostitution to genetically modified food.

Alexander won on the strength of his advocacy for Vancouver's "four pillars" approach to drug addiction, heavily criticized by U.S. anti-drug officials for its harm-reduction approach that includes needle exchanges and safe-injection facilities for drug users.

"That says it's controversial, and that's exactly the sort of thing that the prize wants to recognize," said SFU biology professor Ron Ydenberg, who chaired the prize committee.

"The committee is uninterested in the award winner being right in any sense. What we're interested in is that the work has attracted attention."

Added Nora Sterling, "We questioned the mainstreams of thought and felt that there should be a prize for people who also question, but have done their homework to support their controversial approach. For scientists, their research methods must be ethical and judged as credible by their peers -- it cannot be merely opinions."

Alexander said he initially believed that "these drugs cause addiction, and once people get into them they're sort of possessed, and if they're going to get out of it, they're going to have to have some sort of a conversion experience."

Later, however, he came to believe that addicts were more like "pathetic kids" than demonic liars and thieves.

Alexander contends that addiction isn't neurological in origin but rather has sociological, nutritional, and other facets.

"There's a lot of people who use drugs, and they use them not in order to lead a junky life, but to lead a normal life," he said. "They use them as crutches. And in fact an awful lot of people do that. So, in my way of thinking, most smokers are not addicted."

He added, "You know these people have been labeled junkies, and you think maybe this was caused by the heroin, but why not say it's caused by the malnutrition, or the repeated physical violence, or the stress? ...

"The myth is demon possession, that drugs can possess you and make you into an addict. It has a very medieval flavor to it. That idea, that these drugs cause addiction, is an extremely valuable idea for an awful lot of people.

"I mean, obviously for police, to start with. That's easy, right, because now they have a mission to protect the public [from drugs]. But for psychologists even more so, because we have to have a reason why we can't cure these guys."