AFAIK, alcoholism is the only addiction that's hallmarked by the fact that you tried to stop doing it. It's not like that with anything else.
It seems like everybody drinks this highly addictive substance, outside of those of us who noticed the problems it causes and decided to stop. If you lower the threshold a little bit, everybody drinks to the point of having problems to some degree, and they usually ignore and put up with those problems, no matter how gigantic or minimal. Everyone's personality changes under the effects of this drug, and I believe there are many types of addict who use an addictive, toxic substance like alcohol.
In short, I think people tend to forget that alcohol is an addictive drug for everybody, and pulls people in to varying degrees. Why we needed a label for this is beyond me.