Big Hugs Karma.

You deserve a Kudos for sticking with this man, and I am guessing that HE KNOWS IT.

The person that hit you was not and is not the one you are with now. It was the drugs and not him, it's wonderful you were able to help him beat the beast.

That said, I believe that sometimes we, as outsiders looking in, are quick to scream 'get out', or 'leave him', etc. in situations like these.
I have two reasons to believe that it is not always that cut and dry.

My husband of 11 years is a recovered cocaine addict. His 'coke fling' was several years before we met, and I never saw the person that he was, but I heard the stories. In his case, his first marriage fell apart less than a year into it, because he stopped the coke and she didn't.

Also, very few people know this; but my husband hit me about 6 months into our marriage. It was only once, but that was all it took.
Although he doesn't have an alcohol problem (now or then), alcohol was involved. I had him arrested that night, had his mom bail him out. At that time, I told EVERYONE from his parents to mine, what happened, and MADE HIM tell them as well.
We ended up working through this, he was not only very ashamed, but horrified that he hit me. It NEVER happened again.

I want to stress that my husband is the most ethical, honest and trustworthy man I know. He has stood by me...no CARRIED me, through some very bleak times, where many men would have bailed out.

The point being simply that it is not always black and white, and also that drugs, stress, alcohol, etc. often bring out the worst in people. Sometimes it takes seeing this side of themselves before they become motivated to change.