I recently re-read Addiction and Responsibility by Seeburger. I'm not sure I picked up on this idea the first time through but on this read I came across some of the most informative idea's on the disease concept of addiction that I have ever encountered.
I'll be brief in this post as I have some affairs to tend to but I'll post again with some more detailed information soon.
The first thing to keep in mind when speaking of the disease concept of addiction is that there is not one, universally accepted concept. Another, and SMART would fall into this group, is that there's much debate over whether a disease concept should be used at all. Generally speaking these critics see addiction as a behavioral disorder. Still yet another camp, see addiction as a moral failing.
Seeburger's contention is that one cannot answer the question "is addiction a disease" with a yes or no answer. All three views seem to offer certain insights into the nature of addiction and responses based on all three views can be effective given the right context. He also points out that a lot of the disagreement on the matter often reduces to rhetoric. If a more holistic view could be developed or even mere dialogue between the competing views and their champions, we could really start to make progress in the treatment of addiction.
I tend to agree.