Addiction is a condition characterized by repeated, compulsive seeking and use of drugs, alcohol or other similar substances despite adverse social, mental and physical consequences. It is usually accompanied by psychological and physical dependence on the abused sub­stance and the appearance of withdrawal symptoms when the addictive substance is rapidly decreased or terminated.

When addiction exists, the drug use controls the individual rather than the individual controlling the usage.

Many of today’s illegal drugs are extremely addictive. Some are far more addictive than common illegal drugs of the past. For example, smoked methamphetamine and crack cocaine can be addictive after very short-term use.

Ecstasy, a drug often used in dance clubs, can be highly addictive for some people. A person may think they can experiment with these drugs just a few times and then find, to their surprise that they can’t easily quit when they want to.

Many pharmaceutical (doctor-prescribed) drugs are also addictive, particularly ones for depression or sleep prob­lems. They are addictive whether they are legally obtained and used properly or are obtained illegally and abused. Abusing pharmaceutical drugs usually means that a user is taking a higher-than-recommended dosage or they are using them wrongly by injecting or smoking the substance instead of taking it by mouth.