Our genetic structure determines all our human traits. Our DNA dictates our physical characteristics (such as hair colour) and also our behavioural characteristics (such as anger). These genes are passed on to us by our parents.
There can be a genetic predisposition to substance abuse. In fact, good worldwide research suggests that “at least half of a person’s susceptibility to drug or alcohol addiction can be linked to genetic factors.”
While the environment a person grows up in, along with other factors including a person’s behaviour, influences whether he or she becomes addicted to drugs, genetics play a key role as well. Scientists estimate that genetic factors account for approximately 50 percent of a person’s vulnerability to addiction.
However, understanding the other half of that equation is a vital component in determining a person’s risk for addiction. This means that a person will not become an addict only because they have the gene of addiction, one or more of the other factors will need to be present for the equation to be complete. Similarly, if someone does not have the gene of addiction, they will not become addicts, even if one or more of the other factors are present.
So, no one is born an addict but people can be born with a gene of addiction which makes more vulnerable to becoming an addict later in their lives.