Addiction, Choice or not?

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This question was presented on a forum I formerly was the admin of...all the literature, all the postings, and still people who are not experienced with addiction (either by their own or that of another) question whether anyone can choose to be an addict. I thought I'd share this question with the wonderful people here at Mylot, giving yet another group the opportunity to ponder and form opinions on the subject, and of course to share the conclusions they come up with. Addiction is the result of an action. It is not necessarily a consistence result, as there have been persons who have 'used' highly addictive drugs, both legally (prescription) and illegally (street drugs, or non prescribed). There is always a few who try a drug for reasons other than medical, who find the 'recreation' promoted by others, not to meet it's promo...they have negative reactions, or simply found the experience not to be to their 'taste'. The choice is in the action, the addiction may or not may come as a result of that action. Simple fact is some persons are predisposed to abuse of substances, some are less so, yet with repetion find that the effects become central to their sense of well being...that sense of well being is central to most addictions. The continuing use re-enforces the cycle, the discontinuation of use, results in a loss of well being, which in turn inflicts fear... Some addictions are to drugs that are physically addicting, meaning the body actually 'needs' the drug to simply continue functioning in a reasonable manner...others are psychological, such as gambling etc...although there are physical aspects to the psychological addictions, the adrenaline rush, the feelings of pleasure, the sense of accomplishment with a win etc... No one makes a conscious decision to become an addict...no one choses to be messily drunk or raging with hallucinations. Addiction is like a sneak thief...it steals in, but instead of leaving with the 'goods'it takes over, stealing a bit more each day...stealing things which can not be seen, only felt. Stealing in such a way that the theft is not noticed until it is far too late. Whatever the reasoning behind the first use...for far too many that reasoning is faulty, and addiction is lurking behind it.