[_jal]

I don't know what a doctor would say here. Just noting that medical jargon sometimes carries moral or legal tones independent of any actual medical distinction.

For instance if you're taking a legal drug that habituates you, they don't like calling you an addict, so you're experiencing cessation syndrome. A change in legal status of the drug would presumably lead to a terminology change.

And I'm not going to revisit DSM fights, but suffice to say, a number of changes made to certain diagnoses over time reveal more about sociopolitical changes than anything having to do with psychiatry.

[nkmnz]

Your statement regarding legal status of a drug and addiction is wrong. Alcohol and tobacco are legal drugs and you can not only evolve a dependency on them, but if your addicted you’ll be called an addict. The same is true for other legal drugs used as medication, e.g. benzodiazepines or opioids. If you’ve developed physical and/or psychological dependence on such a drug, you might suffer from withdrawal, which is not a different thing than discontinuation, but rather a special case thereof. Addiction and withdrawal compare to dependency and discontinuation like a hoarder compares to someone who relies on the service of a cleaning lady.

[_jal]

I won't argue the point, it very much is not my area. But that is not the understanding I left with when I quizzed my doctor on the topic.