I get what you're trying to say, yeah, but technically - biologically - they are addicted to the effects of alcohol and drugs: primarily, the release of endorphins.
Yeah was just about to say that. Psychologically it realises a neurotransmitter that cuts off another transmitter from blocking dopamine, so you get an excessive release of dopamine that doesn't stop until the drug runs out. So you get a massive boosts of happiness and a carefree feeling but yeah I get where they're coming from
Nobody's glorifying it. It's shit. It's triggered a rash of depression and suicidal behavior in my family since the... huh. Since 1920, if I math it out, when my grandmother was a teen. But, for instance, one of the original landmark studies on addiction was done with heroin and rats, showing that the rats with access to heroin-laced water would return to it again and again, to the point that they abandoned exercise and food.
But then a few decades later, someone tried the study again with a few more variables. It's called the Rat Park study. The TL;DR version is that they tried it with both "lab rat" conditions AND with favorable conditions for rats, i.e., actual entertainment, plentiful socialization, etc. The "lab rat" rats got addicted almost every time, but in social conditions, the incidence rate of addiction dropped to something like 1/15th of the original.
Also included in the Rat Park studies: rats forced into addiction (also, my apologies, the opioid used was morphine, not heroin) and then introduced into the social environment exhibited known withdrawal symptoms, but usually recovered well. Humans complicate things because it seems we A) have stronger habit formations and B) build social structures *around* the addictions which reinforce the addictive behavior, though.
But then a few decades later, someone tried the study again with a few more variables. It's called the Rat Park study. The TL;DR version is that they tried it with both "lab rat" conditions AND with favorable conditions for rats, i.e., actual entertainment, plentiful socialization, etc. The "lab rat" rats got addicted almost every time, but in social conditions, the incidence rate of addiction dropped to something like 1/15th of the original.