A Wide World Web

The foundation ideas of this blog require that you come face to face with the immensity of the two related, but distinct subjects of addiction and substance abuse.  As you learn more about all of this, you come to realize that there is a broad spectrum of conditions, behavior and problems that sometimes overlap and other times diverge.  We might call this 'A Wide World Web'.  It is essential that, in order to have a positive result, the emotion, stress and heart-break intertwined with these subjects be laid aside and that a clear-headed, rational and reasonable understanding of the subjects be reached.

Addiction is characterized as being enslaved, devoted, or compulsively dependent on something... be it a behavior or substance.  It is becoming recognized that this something can range from caffeine and video games to heroin and cocaine; from intimate contact to oxycodone, from eating and exercise to tobacco and drinking, from television and internet to gambling and self-injury, from work and shopping to spiritual obsession and criminal conduct. The wide world of this list could go on for pages!
Strict definitions for addiction seem difficult for experts to agree on; however they usually reflect that the individual finds some pleasure in the substance or behavior that it is harmful, in some way, and that it is persistent.
Substance Abuse traditionally was a bit easier to define with references to the harmful using of drugs for mind-altering results.  However, this web has broadened to accommodate substances that are not drugs at all (paint, other chemicals, various plants, etc.), used for a 'high'.  There is also the subject of drugs intended for one purpose which are used for another.  Further, there are those drugs which are used for reasons other than a 'high' such as anabolic steroids.  Commonly used substances including coffee and tobacco can find themselves in this list as well.
The web allusion is important to keep in mind.  One aspect of an individual addiction and/or abuse can lead you in a number of different directions.  Obviously, when the focus is broadened to a community, or national situation, the notion of 'A Wide World Web' becomes more apparent.