The American Society of Addiction Medicine characterizes addiction as a “primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry.” The National Institute on Drug Abuse defines addiction as a ‘chronic, relapsing brain disease” that changes the structure and functionality of the brain. So why do so many people still think of addiction as a moral failing? Why do they still refer to victims of substance misuse disorders as meth freaks, alcoholics, junkies, crack heads and garden-variety drunks?
The answer is simple as it is depressing: because that’s the way it’s always been.
http://www.thefix.com/content/professional-voices-addiction-stigma-lethal70023
Source: TheFix.com - December 5, 2012