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According
to Webster's Dictionary:
addiction
n.
-
- Compulsive physiological and
psychological need for a habit-forming
substance: a drug used in the
treatment of heroin addiction.
- An instance of this: a
person with multiple chemical addictions.
-
- The condition of being
habitually or compulsively occupied with
or or involved in something.
- An instance of this:
had an addiction for fast cars.
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The WHO (World Health Organization) Expert
Committee on Drug Dependence takes addiction a
step further with the following definition
(1974): A state, psychic and sometimes also
physical, 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 for its absence. Tolerance*
may or may not be present. A person may be
dependent on more than one drug.
*requiring more and more of a substance in order
to get the desired effect; decrease in the
desired effect when the same amount of a
substance is taken. |
