Addiction: Choice or Disease?
By Navdeep, age 17, Canada
To begin, the main component that makes addiction a choice is, when you choose to do drugs or drink alcohol, you are making the decision for yourself, and you should be well versed with the consequences. Knowing that drugs and alcohol are not good for the body or overall health, when choosing to intake them, the person is fully responsible for what occurs. No one should be at blame because the choice is their own to do drugs, and if addiction is brought upon, then that is their own fault. Moreover, the choice is made by the user, and even though influence is a factor, at the end of the day the choice to subject the body to drugs or alcohol is that of the user. No one can make you do anything. Personal decisions are made, and they are up to you.
In contrast, I do believe however that addiction is a disease because, once you are addicted to drugs or alcohol, dependence occurs, and your body needs more of the substance to achieve the same results as it did in the beginning with so little. The person has no control over dependence because the body gets used to the drug or alcohol over time. In this case addiction is a disease because the body provokes the user to use more and more of the substance, and before long it does act like a disease because the user has no control anymore. In addition, once addicted, like a disease, it is very hard to overcome the addiction. Most people cannot overcome the addiction, unless rehabilitation or some sort of aid is provided, just as with a disease medicine and frequent doctors visits are necessary.
In conclusion, I believe that addiction is both a choice and a disease, because different factors come into play and one option cannot be chosen. However, the most important question at the end of the day that the addict should be asking is ... WHO CAN HELP ME STOP?
