"When a government becomes powerful, it is destructive, extravagant and violent; it is an usurper which takes bread from innocent mouths and deprives honorable men of their substance for votes with which to perpetuate itself." - Cicero
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Academics talk some real crap sometimes

This is the latest example.

Scientists say the human brain is "hard-wired" in a way that makes belief in God help addicts to overcome their addictions. Psychiatry Professor Doug Sellman and colleagues at Otago University's National Addiction Centre have joined theologian Lloyd Geering to argue that breaking an addiction requires a "higher power" than most addicts can summon by themselves.

They said yesterday that belief in an ideal imbued with spiritual meaning was "a universal human trait found in every human society throughout recorded time". Dr Sellman said it was the same trait that allowed human beings, unlike other animals, to "imagine what is over the mountain".

Atheists can imagine just like anyone else. I can imagine there is a river of chocolate on the other side of the mountain but reason, evidence and science tell me it won't really be there. The same applies to God and other myths and fantasies.

Addiction is almost entirely explained by a willingness to accept long term costs in exchange for lesser short term benefits. This is done entirely consciously and voluntarily. To beat addiction it is both necessary and sufficient to apply one's mind to the long term effects of behaviour so that quitting best satisfies the addict's preferences.

Unfortunately our society is moving more and more in a direction where short term benefits are enjoyed by the addict and long term financial costs are incurred by taxpayers. This shifts the equation somewhat in favour of addiction but there are still plenty of significant long term non-financial costs borne by the addict.

Going to heaven is a long term benefit, if you believe in it. So it's not impossible that finding religion could help addicts. However they would also have to believe that going to heaven is conditional on their quitting. This seems theologically doubtful and practically quite unlikely.