Junk food junkies?

It's no coincidence that high-fat foods with little nutrition in them and addictive pleasure drugs are both called "junk."

Junk is what's left when the good stuff is gone — junk bonds, junk cars, junk food, junk lives.

Now, according to a study published in Nature Neuroscience, high-fat foods can alter brain chemistry much like heroin and cocaine. They can also drive compulsive eating and become habit-forming to the point of addiction.

When laboratory animals were given free access to a high-fat diet, they went a little crazy. They lost complete control over their eating. Their body weight shot up 25 percent in just over a month. Eventually, when fed enough junk food, they "crashed." When scientists offered them "salad," the animals went on a hunger strike. They would rather starve than eat something healthy.

How all this plays out in the "human laboratory" remains to be seen. But if observation is a key, most people have seen similar behavior in school, in their families and perhaps in themselves.

The question is, in a land that prides itself on free choice, what will remedy the problem?

Is it time to tax Twinkies the way we tax cigarettes?

Should junk food be more tightly regulated?

Should it be banned completely?

We suggest going the information route — a public service campaign — much like the one that changed cigarette smoking from exotic and glamorous to being viewed as silly, reckless and unsavory. Once society sees pigging out on junk food as "clueless," people will make adjustments. And snack companies will follow suit.

It's not a "choice" issue anymore.

It's a public health issue.

It's time to haul out the posters: "This is your body. This is your body on junk food."

As with tobacco, some won't get the message or will flaunt the dangers openly. But just as tobacco has gone from something "smart people do" to something "stupid people do," junk food can become a taboo.

Patience and time are required, but behaviors must change. And forcing people to toe the line with laws and regulations won't get the job done.