The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) utilized more than 70 experts over four years to answer this question and the consensus definition: Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Prohibitionists condemn cannabis as addictive, but does consuming the plant regularly lead to a chronic disease of the brain reward system that physically alters dopaminergic pathways and motivates a pathological pursuit of substance reward.