I will admit I am torn here. I do AA and have been sober for 6 years. I struggle with the disease model- I believe I was biologically susceptible to addiction because of my father along with bipolar. I believe that it was more than nature- my environment and abuse pushed me towards addiction to alcohol for self medicating and escaping reality. I believe healthcare should cover addiction treatment because it is a malady that breaks down families and ruins so many lives. In AA literature there is one section that talks about alcoholics having an allergy to alcohol. That one drink triggers a desire that can leave us powerless over how much we drink, when to stop and what happens. This is where the 12 step principle comes in about a group of people understanding you can help you overcome the addiction. So in one respect I see the idea of it being disease-like but I have never heard of a 12 step program absolving someone of their responsibility because of addiction. It talks about being powerless over the substance but not that you cant be accountable for what you do or did while drinking or doing drugs. In fact if the author of the article wanted to they could read more about the steps and find the part where we make amends. But again, I wonder- video game and sex addiction are diseases too if I say alcoholism is so I dont know.