ABSTRACT
WITHDRAWAL Prolonged drug use makes an array of changes in the brain. Tolerance, sensitization, physical dependence, withdrawal, psychological dependence, craving, and addiction all describe altered functioning in the brains and bodies of long-term drug users. These terms, which have explicit meanings for scientists, do not always retain such precise scientific meanings when people use them in general conversation. It is therefore sometimes difficult to discuss drug effects because we don’t always know what people mean when they use these important terms.
