Addiction is the dependence, both physiologically and emotionally, upon alcohol, drugs, or tobacco.
Addiction is a disease, it is not a character flaw. Like diabetes, asthma, or hypertension, addiction is a chronic, but treatable illness. As with these other common and serious illnesses, it takes motivation and behavioral changes to successfully manage the disease. Most recovering addicts have been here before. Studies have shown that it often takes more than one visit to an addictions treatment program to successfully maintain long-term abstinence.