Drugs and alcohol can have many effects on a person's body and life. Thousands of jobs, homes, and families are lost each year to drug and alcohol addiction. Children grow up without parents, spouses are forced to raise their children as single parents, and grandparents become legal guardians for the second time, due to the effects of substance abuse and dependence. Exactly how addiction is defined and diagnosed is an ongoing question that will be addressed in this article. Although there are eleven different categories of substances, this article will focus specifically on alcohol and cannabis. An estimated 126 million Americans over the age of 12 reported being continuous alcohol drinkers in 2005 (Smith & Stevens, 2009). According to the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), more than 42,000 homeless adults over the age of 50 were admitted to drug treatment in 2008, and sixty-five percent were being treated for alcohol abuse (TEDS, 2010 ). Excessive drinking may have been accepted in the early 20th century, but currently, a man who drinks more than 14 drinks a week or more than four drinks a day, and a woman who drinks more than 13 drinks a week , 3 glasses per day. per day, is considered “at risk” of becoming an alcoholic (Burge and Schneider, 1999). Cannabis, better known as marijuana, is the most widely used illegal drug in America (Smith and Stevens, 2009). It is also in this country that the level of abuse and dependence was the highest in 2005, with more than 4.1 million people affected (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2006). Marijuana is commonly smoked in the form of a cigarette, also known as a joint or blunt, and is also used in a pipe or bong. There is a more powerful, unquestioned middle of paper......Mendelson, J. and Mello, N. (Eds.). (1985). Diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism. New York: McGraw-Hill. National Institute on Drug Abuse, (2006). Marijuana. Bethesda, MD: Author. Retrieved August 11, 2010 from http://drugabuse.gov/infofacts/marijuana.htmlSmith, RL and Stevens, P. (2009). Substance abuse and counseling. Theory and practice. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. US Department of Health and Human Services (2007). The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/alcoholdrug/index.htmUnited States Department of Justice (1988). Drug Enforcement Administration, “In Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition” (Docket No. 86-22). Retrieved from http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30