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Calling drug addiction a "disease" is both insulting to and demeaning of the addict. It's demeaning in that it promotes a view of the addict as a drug-seeking automaton, removing personal choice from the equation. It's insulting in that it indicates there's something wrong with addiction in itself.
There's a drug that probably a lot more than 1 in 10 Americans are addicted to, the mild stimulant known as caffeine. A mild addiction, but an addiction nontheless. Should addicts think of themselves as diseased? If someone were to offer to wave a magic wand and cure the addiction, would they be wrong to refuse, or to go back to using after being cured? I don't think so.
The harder drugs (including alcohol) are are a bigger problem for the addict. But it's not impossible to be addicted to them without destroying oneself, either. Wolf, you only see the worst of them; there's plenty of drug addicts out there who will not be stepping into your workplace.
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