In the years I've been coming to SR, this debate has played out over and over and over again. My belief is that it doesn't really matter--unless you are the one afflicted. From the F&F standpoint, disease or not is irrelevant. It's the behavior that matters, and a disease is not an excuse for unacceptable behavior. I would not accept abusive behavior from someone just because they had cancer, so why would alcoholism be any different?
FWIW, my opinion is that it's not a disease in the same sense that cancer is. But it is a mental disorder, so if you classify mental disorders as diseases, then yes it is.
L