Addiction: Why is it a disorder of choice and decision?

The financial and social costs of addiction are staggeringly high; countless clinical reports and memoirs document the personal pain and chaos caused by addicted family members. In response, many addiction professionals and much of the public conclude that addiction is a disease. No one, the argument goes, would cause so much harm to themselves and others voluntarily. Yet research tells a different story. Clinical, historical, and biographical evidence reveals that economic conditions, legal sanctions, and the opinions of others, particularly family members and loved ones, influence the course of drug use in add…