Originally Posted by equus
It's aimed at the model. The study of any disease is quite rightly a painstaking process, by necessity it goes beyond personal experience and relies on broad research, by nature it is far from easy to pass on or grasp.
The American Medical Association and the substance abuse & mental health services administration. (AMA & SAMHSA respectively) have both stated that addiction is a disease. THey have studied it and it is the accepted conclusion of people far smarter and more trained than I am.
I personally back up paul's assertion that if an addict can accept the disease model of addiction, they can accept the fact that they can't return to using b/c they can't control their disease once it gets kicking. It isn't about avoiding personal responsibility, it's about embracing it. "If I use, I do bad ****, I don't want to do bad ****, I won't use."