What is the Difference between Drug or Alcohol Abuse and Addiction?

There is a range in the severity of substance problems: from mild to moderate to severe. Drug or alcohol abuse is a mild substance problem, defined by having two or three symptoms of addiction. People who abuse drugs or alcohol can experience serious consequences such as accidents, overdoses, crime, school problems, violence and suicide. Many people experience alcohol or drug abuse problems, but are able to stop using or change their pattern of use without progressing to addiction. 

The most severe form of addiction is a physical, often chronic, disease that most often requires intensive, long-term treatment. And just like other serious diseases, people with severe addiction get increasingly sick over time, develop other illnesses as a result of the disease, and can ultimately die.

_References

• _{CASAColumbia. (2012). Addiction medicine: Closing the gap between science and practice.}