Is drug dependency considered as a disease?

My cousin Trevor, I think, is already drug dependent. He can't live without cocaine (or so he says). He's having daily fights with his mother because of his addiction. She reckons that taking in cocaine is like inflicting disease on yourself. Is she right? I mean, is drug dependency really a disease?Is drug dependency considered as a disease?
According to my research, drug dependency is not a disease but a state of mind. The drug has certain effects on the abuser which causes his brain not to function properly. He feels like he can't live without cocaine when in fact it is better to live without cocaine. Try to persuade Trevor into getting treatment. It will help him overcome his dependency and it will help your aunt feel better about everything.
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• 4 years ago
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Is drug dependency considered as a disease?
i think so
recreational drugs alter your brain receptors. depending on the individual...that will decide on how fast a person comes to decide on how in depth the individual succombs to the drug overtaking their life.Is drug dependency considered as a disease?
Oh yes. Yes it is. It is a desease that afflicts both the mind and the body. You get a craving from both areas. I worked with addicts in narcotics investigation for years. Just the other night I spoke with a woman who I had pulled from the basement of an abandoned home (a basement about four feet high). She was living in her own excrement. She was a bonifide meth addict. She has cleaned her life up very nicely however she will tell you that certain smells alone trigger an urge to take the drug. I used to take another meth addict to public talks. She eventaully hung herself. She couldnt take the pain of wanting it anymore. Hard core drugs such as cocaine and meth trigger two seperate dependancies. One is the mental dependancy linked to the belief or over powering urge to NEED that drug. You have to have it. You would sell out your own children, give them away, and that need is stronger than your attachment to your children. Then there is the physical need. That need causes pain, lack of ambition, craving from down deep, headaches and nausea etc. I wish I could have taken children who were experimenting with drugs to some of the places I have been to arrest or at time it felt like rescuing an addict. Many low level street dealers are addicts. Oh you bet its a disease. There is no doubt about it. I never met a happy drug addict ever.