The nature of drug dependence - Edwards, G., Lader, M. (Book review)

Why is it that some drug users continue to use drugs when their drug use harms their health or their social relationships? An influential answer has been “because they have become dependent on the drug”. The difficulty with such an answer is in avoiding explanatory circularity, ie, we diagnose “drug dependence” from the fact that the user continues drug taking despite its adverse consequences, and we “explain” the continued drug taking by saying that the drug user is dependent on the drug