I took the bike out yesterday and noticed that the rear break pedal felt a bit... odd. Well at the second stoplight I came to the bike had more trouble than normal taking off the line. I realized the rear drum break was sticking and providing resistance to the rear wheel. I lifted up on the break pedal with my boot and it disengaged. I rode to the nearest gas station and pulled over to see what the problem was. By this point once I pressed the break, it wouldn't disengage at all. Lifting up on the pedal yielded no response. If I pushed the pedal down, it  would go until I heard a click.

The only way to get the break to disengage was to back the adjuster nut out on the cable until the break released. Once it was adjusted enough to release, the break pedal did nothing when pressed. I played with the adjustment a bit which was the only thing the brake was responding to. Couldn't get it to disengage with the nut turned in on the cable, couldn't get it to engage with the nut turned out on the cable to a point where it would let the wheel spin freely.

Any ideas? The bike has 12,5XX miles and the drum pads seemed it good condition last time I had the wheel off, can't imagine they would ever need replaced anyway.

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Last couple of times I put the rear wheel back on the brake has worked fine. Including the last. This seems to be a recent development not resulting from taking things apart. The front pedal has never been apart.

Could some of this incur misplacement from wear and tear?

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Agreed. Certainly not a bad thing. The only problem is finding a friend to help put it back on as my hands aren't numerous enough to do it. Had I not recruited my roommate to do it 2 other times then it wouldn't cost me a couple o' beers... Right now I have some good stuff in the fridge, should I just take it "somewhere"?  

I suppose I was wondering if anyone had a diagnosis of what it would be within the break given the pads generally don't wear down this early as to get a head start on part ordering. A suggestion from local family members suggested worn springs or a worn out cam, but suggested the unlikeliness of such parts being worn yet.

You need to do a little investigation.  Loosen the adjuster at the rear wheel and see if the brake arm on the wheel is free.  If the shaft is corroded or dry it may be sticking.  The brake cable could also be dry and sticking - as could the front pedal.  It sounds to me like you need to take the brake system apart, clean and lube the moving parts.

Good call Dave,, Yea,, he is dead on there,,Isolate the possible causes & check them out individually. You may need a cheater to engage the brake
w/o the pedal. A deep socket & extension makes a decent cheater in places where a guy just needs a bit more Oomph.
I use 1/4 drive stuff on allen wrenches all the time..

If you do wind up going into the brake area, make sure you dont breathe any of that dust.

One man can reinstall the rear wheel,

Theyre pretty stiff, but their job is pretty tuff, too. Yea, theyre replaceable , but they dont need replaced, generally.I saw some slack in mine & cut some strips of inner tube & shimmed them up a bit.
It takes some planning, getting everything set up where ya need it & some coordination & ability to see whats not fitting & what its gonna take to get it going. A rolling stool is important, because feet go under the tire to lift & position it. Getting the spacer in on the belt side needs to happen early.

 The guy I bought my bike from had the same issue but rode a little to long......
Rear hub was seized when I got it, has a nice color now....

Check and lube the activation parts and spring as stated. Then check the arm on the hub to see if it is slipping around the pivot. Then open it up to check if the cam is going past the point of no return for some reason like a worn or broken brake shoe. That's all I got.