You make some good points, and I've seen those discussion points before. I think my interpretation explains this, but I may not have worded it in a good way, so I'll start over and work it out in a slightly different way. Basically, I'm going to show my work how I got to my method for tracking addiction. It starts with that first sentence (and only that sentence) and then uses the rest of the information and builds on the concept:
So, we start with the phrase
- "Every time you use an addictive substance during (11 — Addiction Rating) weeks in a row, you need to make an Addiction Test."
For this, I'll assume the "Addiction Duration" which is the 11-Rating, falls in the range 0 to ~11 (minimum 0 because negative time just flat out doesn't work). With a duration of 0 meaning that you make an Addiction Test
every time like Marcus said with K-10. But for any other drug we need to know what "use an addictive substance during (X) weeks in a row" means. Like I said before, I'm starting from scratch and building on the later sentences once I have this current meaning, so bear with me.
So if we assume that weekly usage is enough (because the timing doesn't get more precise than tracking it by weeks), then by that phrasing you need to use the drug consistently for the listed duration. So for Kamikaze, you would have to use it for 2 weeks in a row, Jazz would be 3, Novacoke would be 4, etc. By just that sentence, taking the drug only one time would only result in an Addiction Test for durations of 0 or 1, because otherwise you haven't taken it for enough "weeks in a row" (again a frequency of at least once a week would be the assumption). And the rules don't get any more precise than that in terms of more frequent usage (like multiple times daily, for example) so I think it would be fair for a GM to apply some sort of penalty for someone who is a constant and extremely frequent drug user.
The next sentence:
- The clock on this keeps ticking even if you skip a week, but every week you go without indulging reduces the Addiction Threshold by 1 (it returns to normal when you use again).
This adds in the concept that you don't have to use the drug
every week during the duration to trigger an Addiction Test. Before, skipping one week meant you were free and clear (because you didn't meet the requirements). Now we have a rule for what happens if you skip a week (the Threshold goes down). This means that you still want to keep track of that duration, even if you stop taking the drug, because just stopping no longer breaks the requirement of "during X weeks in a row."
- If the threshold hits 0, you're off the hook until you use the substance again.
This could be interpreted in one of two ways. Either it means that when the threshold drops to 0 you can stop keeping track of the threshold, or it is just a clarification that if the threshold is 0, you don't have to make a test. I prefer the former, meaning if you stop taking a drug long enough to let the threshold drop to 0 (before the duration expires), you don't have to worry anymore until you take the drug again (and start the whole process over again).
- This means that substances with high Addiction ratings (like kamikaze) could get you hooked in a single dose.
So if you take Kamikaze, the duration is 2 weeks. So it starts with: you need to take kamikaze for two weeks in a row. Again, if you use it much more frequently, like daily, I would consider the GM appying some sort of penalty. If you take a week off, which would normally break the concept of "two weeks in a row" you aren't off the hook, it just reduces the Addiction Threshold by 1. So, presumably, taking that first dose counts as using the drug for "1 week" although I would agree to listen to arguments that it just starts the countdown and doesn't count as part of the week. For now I'll assume it counts. So if we take it once, that's one week in a row, and if we don't take it ever again, we hit 2 weeks in a row (about another week later). That's the duration for Kamikaze, so we have to make an Addiction Test. Now, we didn't indulge in Kamikaze for one full week before we need to make this Addiction Test, so the Threshold drops by 1, down to 2. This means that the Kamikaze drug is potentially addicting at even one dose, because the combination of Addiction Rating (duration) and Threshold means that it is impossible for the drug's Threshold to drop to 0 (which would have let you off the hook).