Substance Abuse and Dependence

Abstract

The term “addiction” has been used synonymously with the term “substance dependence.” As such, addiction has been defined as “a chronically relapsing [disorder] characterized by compulsive drug taking, an inability to limit the intake of drugs, and the emergence of a withdrawal syndrome during cessation of drug taking (dependence)” (Koob, Sanna, and Bloom, 1998:1). The World Health Organization, which abandoned its use of the term “addiction,” has defined dependence as a state, a psychic and sometimes also physical [state], resulting from the interaction between a living organism and a drug, characterized by behavioral and other responses that always include a compulsion to take the drug on a continuous or periodic basis in order to experience its psychic effects, and sometimes to avoid the discomfort of its absence (Grinspoon and Balakar, 1976).