Why is addiction called a "disease"? When one makes a conscious CHOICE to try something they know is addictive--how can that be called a disease?

@Xuan12 But many can eat what they want their cholesterol stays low for life-=-hence no heart disease. And...heart disease can occur on it's own--even in babies who have eaten nothing--just born with it. I see your general point---but it's not the same. One does not choose to get heart disease--but they do choose to ty drugs for the first time.

@anythingoes477 But for many individuals it is the same case. Some people can also take drugs and not get addicted. Some are born addicted to drugs. The way in which one becomes diseased doesn't change that they have a disease. A person could choose to expose themselves to bacteria and become ill as a result. Still diseased. Personal responsibility, or lack thereof, still leaves the disease.

@Xuan12 Good point---but if one is "diseased" by choice---and I think the defining difference is did I just get that and it's no fault of my own-------or did I choose to put myself in a spot where now I am sick---is the difference.