More and more studies are proving the relation of addiction with heredity and environment. If your immediate- or extended-family members are practicing or recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, there is a good chance that your substance abuse is related to your genetics. Also, if your peer groups growing up exposed you to alcohol and illicit substances early on in life, this is a strong indicator of future substance abuse. People who lived through traumatic experiences, lifestyles or childhoods also are at higher risk of developing chemical dependency.

With all that said, there are still countless problem drinkers and users who showed none of these warning signs, growing up in “normal” homes with loving families, working successful jobs and maintaining long marriages. The truth is that no one is exempt from addiction, and our current knowledge on the predictors and warning signs is so limited that no scientist or doctor can say definitively who will become a cocaine addict and who will only try amphetamines in social settings.

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