There have been many ideologies surrounding the debate on what is drug abuse and what is drug addiction. Drug abuse leads to drug addiction and can destroy life of an addict and shatter the lives of those who love him or her. Facts are those that argue the difference between drug abuse and drug addiction often times have no real clue. The mental health classification does not recognize drug abuse and now references this as substances abuse, and has many complex classifications of drug addiction. It’s almost as if experts are attempting to convolute the issue surrounding drug addiction.

Often times those that participate in drug or alcohol abuse are addicted but argue otherwise, as it is not real to them that they actually choose drugs or alcohol over things such as family, job, friends, and even freedom. For those involved with drug addiction and/or drug abuse often target other problems as the reason why negative things continue to happen. Drug abusers or alcohol addicts cannot see how the neurological or biological effects would altar their moods and thoughts processes for weeks after the drug or alcohol abuse occurred. Those suffering from drug addiction find it hard to realize how the situation came about, are confused and have a hard time accepting responsibility. Often the family dramatizes the effects of the drug addiction and plays an active role in supporting the drug addict in his negative behavior as a desperate attempt to “help”. This is absolutely the worst thing the family can do and is done to “keep the addict off of the streets” when in fact this is feeding the drug addiction. At this point seeking a qualified drug addiction counselor will help the family guide their way. 

Drug abuse has a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. All of these definitions imply a negative judgment by the drug or alcohol abuser on the drug abused or is in question. The most common drug abuse occurs with and is most often associated with alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methadone, and opium alkaloids. Drug abuse occurring with these types of drugs often leads to legal problems in addition to possible physical, social, and psychological harm that result in drug addiction.

Public health practitioners have attempted to look at drug abuse from a broader perspective than the individual, emphasizing the role of society, culture and availability. Rather than accepting the loaded terms alcohol or drug "abuse," many public health professionals have adopted phrases to identify drug abuse, such as "substance and alcohol type problems" or "harmful/problematic use" of drugs.

The terms drug abuse and drug addiction have been defined and re-defined over the years. The 1957 World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Addiction-Producing Drugs defined drug addiction and habituation as components of drug abuse.

Drug addiction - is a state of periodic or chronic intoxication produced by the repeated consumption of a drug (natural or synthetic). Its characteristics include: (i) an overpowering desire or need (compulsion) to continue taking the drug and to obtain it by any means; (ii) a tendency to increase the dose; (iii) a psychic (psychological) and generally a physical dependence on the effects of the drug; and (iv) detrimental effects on the individual and on society.

In 1964, a new World Health Organization committee found these definitions regarding drug abuse and drug addiction to be inadequate, and suggested changing to term to the more general term “drug dependence": The definition of addiction gained some acceptance, but confusion in the use of the terms addiction and habituation and misuse of the former continued. Further, the list of drugs abused increased in number and diversity. The difficulty surrounding drug abuse and drug addiction have become increasingly apparent and various attempts have been made to find a term that could be applied to drug abuse and drug addiction generally. The component in common with drug abuse appears to be dependence or a drug addiction, whether psychic or physical or both.

In the field of drug abuse many so called experts in this arena have given complex definitions and evaluations, of what drug abuse or drug addiction is, when in fact a common sense approach would be more accurate. Simply put if you continue to drink alcohol in excess of receiving the desired affect that would obviously be relaxation or slight intoxication, or if you use drugs for any reason other than or in excess of directions as prescribed that is of course drug abuse and would indicate a drug addiction.

Someone who is guilty of continuous drug abuse regardless the degree is highly susceptible to and probably is suffering from drug addiction. A rule of thumb to use for those concerned would be to consider the levels of drug abuse or drug addiction. Level one would be someone who has abused drugs or alcohol a few times and realized it was leading to a problem and stopped on their own. Level two is very similar to level one; however the drug abuse is more prevalent and has lead to a consequence. At this level drug addiction is a high possibility; however a drug abuser is able to stop with the means of an outpatient program. Level three is someone who has been quality of drug abuse  and is suffering from drug addiction, this is proven by the length of drug abuse, that usually include many attempts to stop, albeit after severe consequences that can include jail and hospitalizations.

Drug abuse and drug addiction are not something one can afford to take chances with. Often times it is a fast track from level one to level three, level three requiring in inpatient drug rehabilitation program of at least 30 days or longer. A 30 day drug rehabilitation program usually consists of two type of treatment that unfortunately does not produce formidable success rates. Programs with holistic approaches of 90 days or longer increase one’s chances of success several times over.