[ QUOTE ]
When people say addiction is a disease without a cure, do they mean this literally or is it metaphorical?

[/ QUOTE ]

Both. I can't speak for all addictions, but scientists believe that alcoholics have a genetic predisposition toward their addiction. Whether this makes their alcoholism inevitable from birth is not known.

What is known is that no alcoholic is ever cured of his disease. There are no ex-alcoholics, only recovering alcholics. The only solution is to abstain.