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This debate popped up on my newsfeed on Facebook so I decided to bring it G@G and see what you all think.

Some experts and doctors do classify addiction as a disease because once you start doing drugs, your body becomes chemically dependent most of the time. This is because your body has been altered in some way to the point where it no longer behaves normally.

However, many people find it offensive that it's classified as a disease because physically doing drugs and drinking alcohol is actually a choice, not a disease or illness like cancer, bipolar disorder, autism, leukemia, etc. In other words, it's something you choose to do to your body whereas someone like a breast cancer patient doesn't choose to have breast cancer. Therefore, it does not fit the actual definition of disease.

The following definitions were pulled from the Merriam Webster dictionary:

Disease: a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms

Addiction: compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (such as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal

So is addiction a choice or a disease?