There is a theory about addiction and the disease theory that I insert here with caution that I personally feel such theories should be irrelevant, as I will insert at the end of tgis comment. Tge theory is that it is a disease that interferes wit the ability to make rational choices because in some brains, either by birth or from later damage, the pleasure center (amygdala) overwhelms the pre frontal cortex. he signals from the former when stimulated by substances or behaviors (sex, gambling, e.g.) are so strong that the addict's brain displays a disease that makes rational choice impossible.

Now, while that makes total sense, I don't think it's productive. This is: "Is substance abuse a personal failure of willpower or a disease that deserves medical treatment — the answer does not matter. The problem affects all of society so society must stop the binary assignment-of-blame-approach and simply accept that the problem affects millions of people touching the lives of all and costs society hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Substance abusers have the ultimate accountability for their actions and a duty to do what they can to recover. Society needs to do its part to understand addiction, remove the stigma, and make proper care affordable not only for addiction but for mental health generally. 12-step programs and rehabs are salves between relapses. A new paradigm is required. Until we destigmatize substance abuse, the cycle of failure will never end." See my https://medium.com/illumination/drilling-down-to-the-root-cause-of-addiction-7c57c5a3fd6c and my many subsequent essays on the topic of addiction treatment, e.g., https://marcus17043.medium.com/efficacy-of-12-step-programs-for-addiction-treatment-c111fbffc10a