Actually if you don't have addiction issues in your life one still creates a dependency wirh long term use. My pain specialists defined th difference. I was on a narcotic for almost 20 years at a high dose & never became addicted to it (wanting higher & higher doses to get the feeling the drug causes that one likes) The only thing it ever did was control my pain so I could FUNCTION lime a normal person. But EVERYONE who takes narcotics long term becomes DEPENDENT on it which just means that if you go iff the med suddenly yiu will go through withdrawal.

Everyone who us addicted is also dependent HOWEVER NOT everyone who is dependent is addicted. Every pain specialist I had for those 20 years said the same thing.

With dependence can come tolerance which makes it hard for MD's to distinguish between tolerance & addiction but it all has to do with what the patient is seeking from the drug (& usually an addict will NOT be honest. That is why they have svrewed things up for those of us eho have truly benefited from narcotics.