Addiction is voluntary, author contends in new book

What an irresponsible way to spin addiction. I guess this guy didn't do too much research on chemical dependency, because his evidence seems to have been very hand-picked.

I liked a comment made below the article - addiction may not be voluntary, but recovery is voluntary.

That is also a fallacy. That has been in debate for years.

Overall the opinion that addiction is a choice and quitting is also a choice is simplistic and silly.

As mentioned earlier, psychological addiction is potentially within the control of the individual. Physiological (chemical) addiction for the vast majority is not.

The only reason I say addictions are not a disease is because you can choose to not have them. I can't do that with cancer.

Funny, all comments here and in the actual article argue against the statement. Keep in mind that this is an article about a book and only part of the story is told here, we don't know how much reasearch he's done.
Without agreeing or disagreeing what makes all you here and in the article more knowlegable than a Harvard Medical Professor. Even an addict or ex addict probably couldn't say for sure weather it's a choice/chemical imbalance or whatever.
I would say that if his findings can be backed up with data and he is probably using them to find new ways to help addicts then he should at least be liustened to with an open mind.
Personally I have been addicted to tobacco (have quit almost 1 year now)and there is alcoholism in my family (supposidly making me an alcoholic in theory), so having experienced addiction even I cannot say for sure other than by personal opinion.
Again, if he's looking for new and maybe more successful ways to treat addicts then keep on going man.

Supposidly this statement doesn't hold true for alcoholism, we all have heard that if your dad's and alcoholic then so are you. The only choice is NOT to drink, there is supposidy no choice in weather or not you'd be an alcoholic

It's like saying obesity is not a disease.

I can tell you that physical and physiological addiction causes discomfort or dysfunction. Not talking about withdrawal symptoms here.

This is bullshit.

Supposidly this statement doesn't hold true for alcoholism, we all have heard that if your dad's and alcoholic then so are you. The only choice is NOT to drink, there is supposidy no choice in weather or not you'd be an alcoholic
Who says that?

I would have to say obesity isn't a disease. Unless we are going to catagorize anything you do to harm yourself as a disease.

Supposidly this statement doesn't hold true for alcoholism, we all have heard that if your dad's and alcoholic then so are you. The only choice is NOT to drink, there is supposidy no choice in weather or not you'd be an alcoholic
Who says that?

You've never heard that, hold on I'll find a link.

If you go by the definition, it is.

This is for you Ruez

Children of alcoholics are four times more likely than other children to become alcoholics, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, but environmental factors could be a factor in many of those cases.

Family, twin and adoption studies have shown that alcoholism definitely has a genetic component. In 1990, Blum et al. proposed an association between the A1 allele of the DRD2 gene and alcoholism. The DRD2 gene is the first candidate gene that has shown promise of an association with alcoholism (Gordis et al., 1990).

A study in Sweden followed alcohol use in twins who were adopted as children and reared apart. The incidence of alcoholism was slightly higher among people who were exposed to alcoholism only through their adoptive families. However, it was dramatically higher among the twins whose biological fathers were alcoholics, regardless of the presence of alcoholism in their adoptive families.

Heres the link http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/genetics/a/aa990517.htm
I though everybody knew about this

The fact is that until you become an alcoholic, you are not. It does not matter how many people in your family are.