Well, coming off the drugs is the easy part (and no, admiting you have a problem isn't half the battle. It's an important step, but it's compareable to putting on your helmet before a fight), but staying off is the hard part. People can [but usually don't] stay off a drug for months, but without help - if they're not in a program - they are not going to "cure" their addiction. It's a re-wiring of the brain, which is impossible to fix on your own.

Someone who smoked for two years, four times a day, is very likely an addict. Obviously I don't know the person, don't know their history, consequences, etc, but that's not generally something a normal person would do. If your friend never smokes again, then that's great, I definately don't want to be the one who's like "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! YOUR FRIEND IS AN ADDICT! I'LL BET HE'S SMOKING UP RIGHT NOW, AND JUST LYING TO YOUR FACE!"

A really good indicator for if your friend is an addict, is to look at his family history for alcoholism; if it's in the family, then he's probably an addict, fighting hard to keep clean.

Also, keep in mind that someone struggling to keep clean can turn to other things; other drugs (alcohol included), compulsive and excesive sex, eating, and so on. If you find the person has por boundaries, and experiences difficulties in controlling compulsive behaviour, you could recomend them to a MA meeting. (A twelve-step program (Alcoholics Annonymous) for marijuana) All marijuana addiction follows the exact same course, and everyone in there will know exactly what he's going through. The idea of recovery is to help the person connect with society; not to simply "give him structure, and a bunch of stupid things to do to get his mind off the drugs". If he's strugling with sobriety, all he has to do is go to an MA meeting, maybe put his hand up, get a sponsor, do the steps…

It's free, it's available to anyone, there's no shame from anyone in the meeting…

I don't really know where I was going with that bit about your friend. The general point is that an addict doesn't really have to fit the popular mould of a model; addiction is defined by consequences. Is the person's school suffering because of the drug? Is he having financial difficulties? Are dealers threatening him? Has he been kicked out of his house for doing it? Is he finding himself at parties and in generally bad or dangerous company? Is he gaining weight, developing bad bronchitis, or other health problems? Has he been arrested, or suspended from school? Is he skipping or being late for school? Blah blah blah?

I got in a car with my friend, who's a huge pot-head. It was prety frightening…We drove around for like an hour (we dropped someone off, then decided to wait around for another person to get off work)…Driving up and down a highway at midnight doing thirty over the limit with someone "feels like [he's] driving a floating cloud" is kinda scary. Putting you and someone else's life in danger may be considered a consequence, but it's more attributed to being high, than addiction. Something like multiple DUIs, or speeding after your drug dealer's car or something is a consequence of addiction.

Anyway, I'm glad you're reading my comments. XD

And if I wrote my essays the way I write these comments, I'd fail in a heart-beat. The subject matter is all over the place, and my main points are all jumbled together.

At least you understand what I mean. And I know what you mean about "not seeing any proof" and stuff.

I hung out with a fair bit of addicts; rolled at raves, got piss-drunk out in the snow, smashing my face into walls, smoking up 'till I pass out, put random painkillers up my nose…But I didn't really think of my friends as addicts. (With the exception of one guy…The guy who thought he was driving a cloud; and that was only 'cause he was constantly thinking about where and how and when he'd get to smoke next) These two girls I knew stayed up for two weeks on pure ecstasy and alcohol (if you ever did E, you'd know how fucking horrible that'd feel. Crack binges feel worse. It's a common misconception that binges are pure euphoria…They're not. It's pretty much 98% torture, and the only reason they continue to take hit after hit, is - for lack of a better way to put it - because of addiction) and I thought "wow, they're fucked up…", but it never occured to me they were addicts. In retrospect, one of them had been kicked out of her house, and was living with the other girl, and she had a drug test coming up for children's aid and stuff the week that I met her at a party, and she was like "fuck it, I'mma swallow this, take a tote of that, and drink that bottle, boy".

Now that I have a basic idea of addiction, and I can translate symptoms from an "interview" (it's like how logical people are able to easily understand word problems in math, and take the variables out, while others have difficulty thinking of what formulas and variables to use) I'm able to see and understand addiction in others around me.

Obviously, I'm not a doctor, and by no means an expert; I'm just a 17 year old with a book on addiction, so I really can't say – Wow…Okay, I've gotten so off topic with everything…The point is (yes, "the point is" should be at the start of every sentance I start) that not recognizing addiction in others, doesn't necisarily mean it's not there. I'm not saying you're surrounded by crackwhores and alcoholics, I'm just saying that as you get older, and are hopefully able to sepearte yourself from the whole drug thing, you'll be able to notice certain things in drug users.

*sighs* Sorry I put you through that roller-coaster of thought.

Edit: lmao, I just noticed the last paragraph of your blogs.

Hopefully my comments make up for the lack of comments you've been recieving. =P