Drug addiction is drug addiction, no matter what kind

I hear a lot of people tell me that certain drugs are not habit forming, that they don't have an addiction just because they only smoke pot or they only eat pain pills.. well a drug addiction is a drug addiction no matter what kind. Don't feel bad, you are not alone. I spent a great deal of my life arguing that marijuana is not habitual and that it's not really a drug. Well, it is. Although pot has benefits and helps people with medical problems, it is still a drug none the less. I have talked to people who say they are not an addict because they don't do heroine, methamphetamine, cocaine, and so forth. It doesn't matter what poison you pick..if you abuse it and can't make it day by day without it, then you are an addict. I used to always say I could quite anytime, I am not an addict, I don't like drugs so I don't need them. I was always fooling myself. Although I honestly did not like doing cocaine or meth, I still desired them from time to time. Marijuana was something I never thought I would go without.
I have spoken to many people in my lifetime that try and say they aren't addicted to pills but when they do them they do too many and when that isn't enough they crush them and snort them and when that isn't enough they cook them down and shoot them up. To me that sounds like an addict.
My favorite is the ones who say they only use drugs on the weekends or at parties, it's not something they need, like an addict would say, I need it. It's the fact that when they get the drugs on the weekends and they run out by Saturday night and come Sunday morning they frantically make phone calls and drive to wherever it takes to get more, that is the addict in them. I have been there.
So even though you may say, oh this isn't a bad drug, it helps people. Yes it may, if it is prescribed to you for a medical condition then yes, it helps. If you say, oh I only do this a few times a month,I don't need it, but you look forward to that weekend just so you can get that high, then yes, that is the addict in you creeping out.
Don't feel bad, we have all been there and said similar things to make it seem better, but you are only fooling yourself. A drug is a drug, no matter what. Little weight loss pills you can buy from Wal-Mart, laxatives, those are even easily abused drugs. Yes they are drugs. But it's when you use them for reasons other than their intended medical needs, it makes you the abuser and some day, the addict. Drugs such as meth and heroine that are manufactured with the intent of getting high and have no medical value are chosen by the person who looks for that addiction and they don't even know it until it's too late. Most people don't start off taking drugs by slamming heroine, it's usually led on by not getting a satisfying dose of the usual stuff, which in turn creates the addict. The term drug gets used wrong mostly and people associate it as being a bad thing. Remember, it's only bad, if you make it bad.