If your best friend has an addiction that is hurting them would you try to make them aware of it or just keep ignoring it?

This might not sound like the "text-book" right answer, but it's a topic I have experience with. Personally, I think that many people have misconceptions about addiction and how to deal with it- mostly due with an inability to be honest about a situation and also the fact that people who haven't experienced addiction first hand have a hard time understanding it.

The first thing I would point out is that your friend is not going to get or want help until he or she actually believes it is a problem. Drugs and other addictions have a strange way of making the person under their hold believe they are a solution... and not a problem. In the addicts eyes everything else that causes them stress (including people harping on them about their drug use) becomes the enemy and the drug, which makes them temporarily forget it all, becomes their only friend. The reason I bring this up is that many people take tough-love approach with an addict and end up pushing the person away- the feeling of abandonment and loneliness only serves to make them turn to the drug even more. There is a difference between enabling an addict and being steadfast in your support and love for them.

Another thing is that you aren't really ignoring the drug use... you obviously notice it or you wouldn't be here asking this question. What you are doing is avoiding the issue with your friend. This really isn't helpful to your friendship because you aren't being honest with your friend. By keeping feelings bottled up to yourself and not talking to your friend it will undermine the basis of your friendship eventually. You should be honest with your friend and tell them that you are worried about them, without sounding judgmental or giving ultimatums. If you are a true friend you will be there for them through thick and thin and you will be ready when and if they decide they want help. Having at least one person who is there for you all the time is often what makes the difference between a person who survives addiction and a person who is consumed by it. I am not saying you should allow them to steal from you or that you should buy them drugs... or even that you should be around them all the time. If you feel that their drug use is putting you in danger then you should remove yourself from the situation and tell your friend why... and remind them that you will be there if they decide to get help.