Addiction

Occasional use is not the problem. Trouble increases dramatically, however, with heavier use. 

As soon as they were feeling better, the guys would gather in the lounge to swap stories of high-level burglaries and shoplifting expeditions on a grand scale.

Sure, the tar was gone, but as one of the other counselors put it, “that thing ain’t nothin’ but a crack pipe for nicotine.”

But it’s still confusing for many people outside the field, since unlike psychiatry, they don’t revise their thinking every couple decades.

“He’s a drug addict,” we’ll hear someone say. “You know what those people are like.”

In addictions, a compulsion is usually expressed as a powerful, perhaps even overwhelming urge to continue gambling, drinking, whatever.

She had to relearn truthfulness, a day at a time, much the way the victim of a serious stroke might have to relearn speech.

It can be flagrant or subtle, but damage it will be. Sadly, the drinker is usually the last one to become aware of it. In fact, many never do.

Many so-called “heavy drinkers” do in fact meet criteria for an AUD, but quite a few do not.

…in many instance, it’ll be an unfair fight between enormously well-funded, politically savvy industry lobbies and a few determined nonprofits that advocate for public health.