Adolescence is a period of life of young people in which there is an increased risk of creating a pattern of harmful behaviour and a tendency to develop addiction, due to suscepibility to peer influence, trying new things and distorted images of socially acceptable behaviour. Young people often resort to psychoactive substances such as alcohol and drugs because they believe that it will improve their mood and reduce discomfort. They are often surrounded by a large amount of misinformation, which is why they believe that certain types of drugs do no harm and cannot cause addiction, they also believe that occasional consumption can't lead to the development of addiction. Addiction is a chronic recurrent brain disease. According to the definition of the WHO, addiction is a mental and sometimes physical condition that occurs through the interaction of a living organism and repeated use of addictive substances. The social worker has a multiple role in treating addiction. In the social welfare system, two types of institutions work to combat drug abuse, namely social welfare centers and social welfare homes. The social welfare system has a significant role in the prevention of all socially unacceptable forms of behavior, including the abuse of addictive substances. The social worker provides support and professional assistance to the addict and his family members, conducts psychosocial treatments and interventions, cooperates with health care institutions, provides rights and services from the social welfare system, etc.