Withdrawal = “addiction”.

Withdrawal = “addiction”. Many people erroneously think that if a person goes through withdrawal after a long period of drug use, they are “addicted”. What about cocaine, which produces little observable withdrawal? When a person goes through withdrawal from morphine after several weeks’ treatment with the drug, does that mean they are “addicted” for life? Remember that withdrawal is only one of seven criteria for dependence (“addiction”) and a person must have three of the criteria to be diagnosed as dependent.