The words drug abuse and drug addictions are phrases that are usually looked as the same thing, but of course in real life the two phrases mean different things. The problem of drug addiction does comes as a result of abusing drugs, but the problem of drug addiction is a whole lot more than just using drugs a lot. Its a problem that goes in much deeper than that.
The phrase drug abuse is the problem where an individual continuously uses controlled substances on a regular basis. In a more scientific manner it is thought of as the habitual misuse of a chemical substance. Of course this definition includes the situations where a person uses controlled substances in other ways aside their original way. There are many different ways that you could describe drug abuse, but in the end of the day they all mean the same and its a problem that some people may experience.
The problem of drug addiction is where a person has taking the drug abuse to a level where the body just can't live without the drug and is always craving for it. If the person does not get it for a time period then there are a lot of different withdrawal symptoms that may occur such as insomnia, shaking that can't be controlled, and even nausea. This is caused because the drugs damage the normal way the brain works, making it just working in strange ways, often very different from normal functioning and living properly without the drug is very hard for that person to do.
The drugs may be damaging a persons body and long term health irreparably and it is something that a person addicted to just won't care about. They just don't care as long as they continue to get the same rush they do every time that they take the drug. Stopping the use of this drug for the sake of their health is an option that just will not make sense to them. This is the time that drug abuse turns into drug addiction and its the time where it needs to be tackled before the problem escalates.
The problem of drug abuse and drug addiction are not seen as good things in today's society. So if you are able to take action today and make sure that you know the different between the two things and to look out for the signs that tell us when a person is doing either it will help to build a better society where people are not having problems with drugs but enjoying life safely and in a health promoting way.