Could it be that drug and alcohol addictions are not diseases after all, but bad personal choices? Can addiction be overcome by mustering the strength of character to turn away from such choices? Psychologist Schaler argues convincingly that society has erred in giving in completely to the AA vision that addiction is a disease, that addicts can't help themselves, and that they need a higher power to be saved.

Joseph Gerstein, M.D. F.A.C.P., Harvard Medical School: Schaler drives a stake into the heart of the 'disease' concept of addictions. Millions of people have stopped smoking, abusing mind-altering drugs, and drinking addictively on their own, without the intervention of counselors or doctors or programs.

Op-Ed: Self help means self help. It doesn't mean state help. The state should stay out of the religious and secular cure of souls.

Is addiction a disease, or is it a choice? To think clearly about this question, we need to make a sharp distinction between an activity and its results.