Re: Addiction is a disease?
I won't comment on the other addictions you've listed, but I've studied drug addiction (this includes alcoholism) for over 12 years, and drug addiction is just as much a disease as AIDS and cancer. There is no cure for drug addiction, just like there's no cure for AIDS or cancer. For all practical purpose, one develops the disease of drug addiction the same way one contracts the HIV virus, by making one or more ignorant and irresponsible decisions (of course this excludes babies born with HIV or born with drug addiction i.e. crack babies, etc.).
Unfortunately, the money spent on research to cure/treat drug addiction is miniscule compared to the money spent on AIDS and cancer research. The most horrific thing of all with regards to drug addiction, is the war on drugs, which treats this disease as a crime rather than the massive health problem it is. Many drug addicts end up in prison or jail, and most get no treatment there. To make matters worse, drugs are readily available in prison/jail, and these drug addicts get the bonus of learning and being conditioned to be a violent criminal -- all because they have a disease.
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