Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person's brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medication. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs. When you're addicted, you may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes.

Journal of Drug Abuse aims to publish foster activities in the field of drug abuse and the burden associated with mental, neurological and substance use disorders, and to promote mental health worldwide.

Transitional living that caters to people recovering from addiction are often referred to as sober living, 3/4 houses or recovery residences. Transitional living facilities are now common for people coming out of thirty-day residential or inpatient treatment settings who need ongoing intensive therapy while being able to work part-time or begin or reintegrate back into school and living a life in recovery. There are many excellent transitional living programs where people with addictions and mental health issues can continue their long term recovery.

Drug addiction recovery programs are available on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. The primary advantage of inpatient rehab is that the drug user enjoys 24 hours of supervised care. Inpatient program not only help users through some of the more difficult moments as the patient′s body proceeds through detoxification process but the supervision aspect of the program can also help prevent user from seeking out and ingesting more of the addictive substance. As the changes to any medication being used to help the patient through detoxification can be made in a much faster way than the patient being seen on an outpatient basis.