From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsubstance abuseˈsubstance aˌbuse noun [uncountable] MDDthe habit of taking too many illegal drugs, in a way that harms your health SYN drug abuse
Examples from the Corpus
substance abuse• If a person has a substance abuse problem, he should be directed to a rehabilitative program.• Officials said a substance abuse problem led to the thefts.• The remainder is to establish community controlled health services and facilities and includes substance abuse, education, and prevention projects.• These guys should get into substance abuse.• Finally, the policy also aims to provide assistance to employees with other substance abuse problems.• Remember that substance abuse treatment must address queerness.• But there is another side to the substance abuse equation that may make it less amenable to interventions.• The findings will contribute to improvements in the effectiveness of health education materials concerned with substance abuse. 