According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “Drug addiction shares many features with other chronic illnesses, including a tendency to run in families (heritability), an onset and course that is influenced by environmental conditions and behavior, and the ability to respond to appropriate treatment, which may include long-term lifestyle modification. Addiction is a chronic disease similar to other chronic diseases such as type II diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.”

In a December 2004 issue of Natiure Reviews Neuroscience, Dr. Ting-Kai Li of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reported that “Drug addiction is a brain disease. Although initial drug use might be voluntary, once addiction develops this control is markedly disrupted.”

While there is mounting support for the proposition that addiction is indeed a disease, there are those who vehemently disagree with the disease concept. Many argue that drug seeking and drug taking involve a series of voluntary acts that often require planning and flexible responses to changing conditions. Putting it a different way, the typical addict or alcoholic is not forced at gunpoint to take the first drink or drug. It is a voluntary, conscious decision to take the first “hit”. A respectable and morally upright individual would have the ability to do as Nancy suggests; “Just Say No.”

So what is it? Disease or morality? I doubt there will ever be resolution on this issue and it will be debated for years to come. Regardless of which school of thought society subscribes to, it is important not to overlook the need for treatment for those suffering from either the disease or from a series of bad choices.