To quit cold turkey means stopping the use of substances without any professional help, services or resources. FACT: expecting someone to quit using substances cold turkey is unrealistic. Quitting is a process and often takes time and further steps, such as getting professional help, making new friends, and learning drug refusal skills.

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease that changes the biochemistry of the brain.

Dependence is when the body adapts to a substance, causing symptoms of withdrawal if abruptly stopped.

PWID is the acronym for persons who inject drugs.

Recovery is a process of change through which people improve their well being by overcoming a Substance Use Disorder. Recovery is when a person who has a substance use disorder changes their behaviors in order to improve their health by limiting their substance use. Recovery is a life-long process that encourages positive changes within a person’s lifestyle. Expecting someone to quit using illegal substances without recovery services or help is unrealistic. Relapsing, or using substances again after a period of not using, is a part of the recovery process and can ultimately help a person achieve their goal of remission.

Substance Misuse is when a person uses substances regularly, despite the fact that it is causing issues in their life. Misusing substances can lead to harmful or problematic use, which is when the misuse affects a person’s health and well being such as an suffering from an overdose, and injury from being intoxicated, or longer-term health issues such as liver disease. Substance misuse affects a person’s relationships with friends, family, and themselves. Issues from substance misuse can be simple, such as being late to work or missing school or complex such as blacking out and losing memories. Someone who is misusing substances may develop a tolerance for that substance - meaning they need more than previously used to achieve the same experience. People who misuse substances will continue to use them despite the consequences they cause.

Substance use includes the use of alcohol, non-medical and medical prescription drugs (such as opioids), over-the-counter medications, tobacco, marijuana, and illegal drugs such as heroin and meth. Substance use is complex. People use substances for many reasons, and a lot of people use them without problematic use or harm.

A Substance Use Disorder is a disease that affects a person's brain and leads to an inability to control the use of legal or illegal drugs or medication despite any harmful consequences. A person with a substance use disorder may develop a tolerance for a substance, which means they need larger amounts of the substance to feel the effects (to feel pleasure, or "high"), they can become addicted, intensely crave a substance despite the consequences, and they can also experience withdrawal symptoms when trying to cut back or stop using the substance.

Tolerance is the amount of a substance required to achieve the desired feeling. Often a person with a substance use disorder (SUD) develops a tolerance to a certain substance, which means that they need more of the substance to feel the same effects.