Substance Abuse And Addiction

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Substance abuse refers to the use of any legal or illegal substance when that use is causing damage to the user's physical and/or mental health and causes the person legal, social, financial or other problems including endangering their lives or the lives of others. According to the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, Substance abuse and addiction to alcohol, nicotine, and illegal substances cost Americans upwards of half a trillion dollars a year, considering their combined medical, economic, criminal, and social impact.

Every year, substance abuse of illicit drugs and alcohol contributes to the death of more than 100,000 Americans, while tobacco is linked to an estimated 440,000 deaths per year Substance abuse refers to the use of a given substance which has an unwanted impact on the user, and it is not directly linked to the amount of the substance used that constitutes abuse. The disorder is characterized by a pattern of continued use of a medication, non-medically indicated drug or toxin that results in repeated adverse social consequences such as failure to convene with work, family or school obligations, interpersonal conflicts, or legal problems.

There are on-going debates as to the exact distinctions between substance abuse and dependence, but current practice standard distinguishes between the two by defining substance dependence in terms of physiological and behavioral symptoms of substance use, and substance abuse in terms of the social consequences of substance use. Substance abuse almost always leads to addiction or substance dependence. Medically, physiologic dependence requires the development of tolerance that always leads to withdrawal symptoms. Both substance abuse and dependence are distinct from addiction which involves a compulsion to continue using the substance despite the negative consequences, and may or may not involve chemical dependency.