I think that it starts out as a choice, but some ppl become more dependant on it and it becomes like a disease to them. It takes some ppl over. I think we all make choices, but when you put something your body thinks it need in front of you, you can't help it.

for me addiction is a choice.More if you know the consecuenses and you see every day homes destroyed.You know whats right and wrong so why get into it.

I believe the comments made thus far on this subject are relatively on the mark. It's true, addictions are tough to beat and some of them can be insidiously gradual - then blam - you realize your passion has become something you can't live with without, or are extremely unhappy without. However, personal responsibility is definitely the key to avoiding most addictions. It's obvious to anyone with more sense than a doorknob that some things will ruin your life. It's simple. Don't indulge in such things in the first place. It's well-documented in schools, in entertainment, in the news, etc., that drugs (as an example) are addictive and are something to be avoided if one desires any semblance of a tolerable life, so if a person is so weak-willed that they can not resist peer-pressure or their desire to escape and/or alter their perception of reality, then that is THEIR flaw in dealing with their society and life. They have free-will, regardless of the hideous environment they were reared in. I speak from personal experience so I know if I can do it most others can as well. That said I declare that I firmly believe that accepting personal responsibility for one's actions is critically important to the stability of a family and an independent society. Although it sounds cold I say let addicts suffer the poor choices they've made. They are maladjusted humans who are unable or refuse to resist what is obviously detrimental to decent health and living. Why should the personal responsibility-minded members of our society foot the bill for people who are obviously weak or flawed and are endangering the very existence of a sane society? We should not tolerate or support such people; they are in effect polluting the gene pool, physically and emotionally.

Sorry about the triple post, wasn't on purpose

It is a preventable disease, but a disease nonetheless. Therefore, I think of drug addiction in the same way that I think about heart attack or diabetes in a person who's 100 pounds overweight. I feel terrible for the person who has it, but still realize that it was a result of a choice in lifestyle. There are many factors that lead to this choice, and I agree with Rob P. that spending millions upon millions of dollars throwing these diseased people in jail will not fix the great majority of these factors and that money could be used much more effectively elsewhere. At the very least, treating drug addicts as people with diseases will benefit those who suffer because of these addictions far more than jail time.

It is a preventable disease, but a disease nonetheless. Therefore, I think of drug addiction in the same way that I think about heart attack or diabetes in a person who's 100 pounds overweight. I feel terrible for the person who has it, but still realize that it was a result of a choice in lifestyle. There are many factors that lead to this choice, and I agree with Rob P. that spending millions upon millions of dollars throwing these diseased people in jail will not fix the great majority of these factors and that money could be used much more effectively elsewhere. At the very least, treating drug addicts as people with diseases will benefit those who suffer because of these addictions far more than jail time.

It is a preventable disease, but a disease nonetheless. Therefore, I think of drug addiction in the same way that I think about heart attack or diabetes in a person who's 100 pounds overweight. I feel terrible for the person who has it, but still realize that it was a result of a choice in lifestyle. There are many factors that lead to this choice, and I agree with Rob P. that spending millions upon millions of dollars throwing these diseased people in jail will not fix the great majority of these factors and that money could be used much more effectively elsewhere. At the very least, treating drug addicts as people with diseases will benefit those who suffer because of these addictions far more than jail time.

Although taking a drug is often by choice initially, usually in a 'social' way, it later turns into an addiction that no amount of sheer willpower alone will help one kick the addiction. And I do hate the word addiction, as it is far too frequently abused these days and loosely used to the point that everyone ends up addicted to "something" which just is not so. But on drug addiction, someone once told me that it's like giving a person a piece of chocolate (which is actually Exlax) and then telling them they are 'not allowed to go to the bathroom.' Absolutely impossible for the person not to go to the bathroom as their body almost immediately takes them there whether they want it or not. That all-powerful control of their body over their mind is addiction. Drug addicts desperately need help, and North Americans should be ashamed that they aren't doing far, far more for this section of society to help them.

It is always a choice people make. You decide what to do and you have only yourself to blame.you won't get addicted if you say no to it. You have to rule your life.

If you can ask yourself if this is something you should do, it's a choice.

This is a hard one. Some people do not realize they will get addicted to alcohol or drugs when using them for recreational purposes. The food example is a good one. So we then can say anorexia and bulimia are not disease because one knows the negative affects of under eating and throwing up. It's a tough one to call. But I'll have say it's a diseases at least psychologically.

The usage of the term "Addiction" in the question, in and of itself, acknowledges that this is something that is no longer a choice for some users (look up common and medical definitions of “addiction”). There is good medical evidence that both drug and alcohol over usage is a disease; however, my contention is that both drugs and alcohol should be legal. The big issue for me is the horrible effects of criminalizing drugs, with the crime and incarceration industries this subsidizes, and consequent human costs. The CHOICE, I'd like to make us make as a society, is to reallocate much of the billions of dollars of resources being used in the crime and incarceration industries toward education and treatment programs for those we can help. For those we can't, at least lets not force them to a life of crime or worse yet waste $50,000+++ per year keeping them in jail because of their addiction.

I've seen first-hand on several occasions where alcohol or drugs is a near unstoppable force in someone's life. While I do believe - and there is scientific evidence - that people are pre-disposed to addictions there are plenty of real life stories of people overcoming their addictions. Ultimately, it starts with a poor first decision and then it's a function of will and determination to overcome.

We are all aware of the dangers involved with drinking and drugs. It's the same with food. Sure I would like to eat donuts everyday, but I know there are consequences so I don't.