Addiction: a behavioral pattern with 2 main characteristics:

1. Compulsive, overwhelming, and chemically-dependent drug-seeking, which in many cases, begins as a desperate attempt to cope with trauma, find social acceptance, relieve pain of any kind, and/or to compensate for a deficiency in brain chemistry.

2. A tendency to experience cravings and temptation, often resulting in extreme discomfort and relapse following withdrawal (due to an imbalance in neurochemistry and diminished reward).

Multiple interactions between genes and the environment influence addiction vulnerability.

Some drugs are intrinsically more addictive than others.  Coincidentally, the legal substances are among the top 4 most addictive substances. This should make you question the legitimacy of our legal system with regard to drug-related punishment.

Some people are more impulsive or have genetically impaired reward systems prior to experimenting with their drug of choice.

Expected adolescence is full of seeking behaviors due to the maturing brain (risk taking, novelty, and peer pressure). These behaviors can be extremely dangerous since powerful substances interfere with the myelination (insulation of nerve cells) of the frontal lobe, which is critical for young individuals to develop the ability to make sound decisions, resist temptation, and have motivation to change.

Co-existing mental health issues is termed "dual-diagnosis". Examples include high anxiety, low mood, and obsessive, compulsive binges, which can overwhelm neural pathways and induce psychosis.

Our system (unsurprisingly) is broken.

People degrade, villainize, punish, and fail to understand why people with addiction engage in such a destructive behavior.

People who are hurt by those who have addiction do not deserve to be treated that way, and they should have firm boundaries, but they can always advocate for them to get help (making a condition that for monetary support or housing, they must make effort and attend a treatment program).

Unfortunately, many people do not get the treatment they need, and law enforcement even places people in unsafe and enclosed prisons for drug-related crimes.

People who are suffering with addiction must be held accountable for their actions, but their pain must also be understood and treated with empathy.

With enough education, rehabs may be the consequence for drug-related behavior in our world. 

Rehabs, support groups, and medications such as Suboxone aid in the recovery and rewiring of the brain of those are determined to get clean and change their lives for the better.

This battle must be taken seriously and approached as a complex and difficult infliction among human beings, as it is very real and very painful for all who are involved, but new developments and supports are evolving today.