Pubdate: Sat, 07 Jan 2012 Source: Lancet, The (UK) Copyright: 2012 The Lancet Ltd Contact: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/231 Author: Denna Jones Note: Volume 379, Issue 9810, Page 20, 7 January 2012 CREATIVELY CONFRONTING ADDICTION We are all at risk of addiction. Vices are endemic to the human condition and each of us has the potential to become an addict. Scare statements? Not at the Museo Interactivo Sobre Las Adicciones (aka MIA) in CuliacA!n, Mexico. MIA is a unique interactive games and exhibit-based addiction museum""narcotics feature, but so too do alcohol, tobacco, food, gambling, and internet addictions. MIA broadcasts a strong message: addictions are pandemic and they are global. "Addiction is a disease not a choice" , Nora Volkow, Director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), says as she speaks with me on the phone from her office in Rockville, MD. Volkow was influential in the American Society of Addiction Medicine's redefinition of addiction as a primary, chronic neurological disease, and she and her team advised on MIA's content, together with other experts from Mexico and Europe. "Blunted pathways and fewer D2 dopamine receptors mean addicts find it harder and harder to feel good" , she explains. "Even people with no baseline genetic risk can become addicts if their environment is stressful. Social factors are extremely important in addiction" , she says emphatically. Relentless or unavoidable social pressures are issues that have been incorporated into the MIA experiential spaces, and the result is a series of exhibits aimed at MIA's target audience of young people aged 9-17 years. MIA's educational objectives are even more remarkable given its infamous locale: drug traffickers are known to operate in CuliacA!n and the city has its own distinct "oenarcocultura" . The immersive and interactive MIA experience is intended to be "a fun environment with a serious purpose, enjoyment but with real feedback" , says Alex McCuaig, Chairman of MET Studio, which helped create the museum interiors and exhibition design. It's "not overtly didactic" he adds, "but gives visitors experiences they can relate to" . More than 50 CuliA!canenses were interviewed, including addicts, police officers, social workers, psychologists, teachers, residents, families, and schoolchildren, and their stories form the foundation for many of the exhibits. Facts, life lessons, communication, and health are four key areas throughout the museum and these focal points are realised through games and experiences. Health Action, for example, lets visitors do popular CuliacA!nense activities like horse riding, dancing, boxing, baseball, and cycling via computer simulations, and promotes the idea of finding excitement in physical activity. Immersive journeys take visitors through distorting addictive environments, which are initially fun and exciting but descend into darker experiences. The Interactive Classroom gives student groups the opportunity to interact with a bespoke movie about a day in the life of three local high school students and the influence of addiction in the world around them. MIA creatively confronts addiction by educating visitors through local stories and experiences. MIA is "honest" McCuaig says, "it doesn't shy away from highlighting failings of local society and government but it does so in a way that is palatable" . Volkow adds that MIA offers "a choice for life" . "Education was the most important thing in my family" , she remembers, and the museum "creates a buffer" for those young people who may not have an educational home environment. "People don't choose addiction" , says Volkow, and healthy environments and educational support systems must be prioritised. Hopefully, the museum will play its part in this task by offering an experience that is fun, educational, and unforgettable. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart