Drug addiction and alcoholism, both diseases of the brain which create devastation in the lives of the addict and alcoholic, have often been debated over as to which is harder to detox and recover from. One professional at a luxury residential drug addiction treatment center in Malibu, CA says that drug addiction is easier to drug detox and recover from as alcohol is legal and more prevalent in today’s society, thus creating greater opportunity for relapse in the case of the alcoholic. The other side of this debate would be that illegal drugs and the addict’s “connection” are still present, prescription medication is being prescribed in ever increasing amounts, not to mention, the internet has now made the purchase of narcotics easier than ever before.

Drug addiction treatment and relapse prevention is equally available for drug addiction and alcoholism.

What we are sure of is the addict or alcoholic always has an excuse when they relapse. They tend to blame other people or situations for the reason behind their relapse behavior. If the person recovering from drug addiction or alcoholism would enter a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center, follow a relapse prevention plan, which might include changing their old drinking and drugging buddies for friends in recovery (changing their support system), quit meeting and frequenting places where they drank or used drugs and abstain from participating in unhealthy behavior, there is no difference in the degree of difficulty recovering from drug addiction or alcoholism.