Drug addiction may be a chronic disease characterized by compulsive, or uncontrollable, drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences and changes within the brain, which may be long-lasting. These changes within the brain can cause the harmful behaviors seen in people that use drugs. Drug addiction is also a relapsing disease. Relapse is that the return to drug use after an effort to prevent . The path to white plague begins with the voluntary act of shooting up . But over time, a person's ability to choose not to do so becomes compromised. Seeking and taking the drug becomes compulsive. This is mostly thanks to the consequences of long-term drug exposure on brain function. Addiction affects parts of the brain involved in reward and motivation, learning and memory, and control over behavior.