This is a question that I have been asked by parents, friends and many other concerned loved ones in my life and there is no real way to answer except through first hand accounts of my own experiences with drugs and addiction. I can still remember the first time that I realized I was physically addicted to a drug; it was twelve years ago and a night I will never forget. I had been using heroin for my first three-month stretch but I thought that I had things under control. I been snorting two or three bags every few days and thought of myself as a recreational user.  So when the night came that I ran out of dope I thought nothing of it, the idea of withdrawal never entered my mind. As the dusk turned into darkness I began to feel this awkward tension running through my body, my muscles would not sit still. I felt a cold drip of sweat roll down my back and then another, what was going on? Then this strange confusion began to set in as to whether I was falling ill or perhaps, could it be that I had developed a habit. Well as the minutes passed and my agitation grew stronger and stronger the truth became clear, that I was dope sick and in need of some more heroin quick or else I would continue to become sicker and sicker.  At this moment I realized that I was indeed addicted, but to be called an addict that was still not something that I was comfortable with and a story for another day.