Addiction does not come from a drug; it begins with the person, his or her situation and that person's search for a given experience.

Not everyone who takes drugs is an addict. The inherent overpowering nature of the drug per se, was that no person could resist the pull of the drugs: the one -shot -and -you -are -gone -syndrome. After the 1940's (especially in the USA) this biological disease concept was revised.

The new theory of addiction as being inherent in people who were susceptible to addiction to drugs because of (unknown) factors in their personality is being mooted.

That addiction is not an inherent characteristic of drugs or people, but of person's response to a particular type of experience.

This is a much broader and more unified understanding of addiction:

Addiction as a very personal, subjective response to a given experience; a result of behavior, not necessarily inherent in any person or substance. But the main question we still have to solve is this: what exactly is the mechanism causing the tendency to increase the dose, resulting in repeated consumption of drugs? Drugs lessen the person's ability to cope with life's difficulties. It is here that the vicious circle of drug addiction starts, with the dialectic of relief and slavery as its driving force. This is certainly more complex than mere physical dependence.

The key to diagnosis of addictive disease is in the observation that the patient persists in using drugs in spite of the consequences. It also means that taking away the drug would not solve the problem of drug addiction.

Contrary to what addicts think, alcohol and drugs do not enable you to regain control of a life that has gone awry. They decrease the ability to solve life conflicts within yourself and also creating a void between yourself and the world.