Addiction of all kinds is a choice

Like I said before, it is possible to consciously make the decision to turn yourself for therapy, or hand your addiction over to the robot example that you mentioned in the comment to the debate. Some do in fact, have the strength to do something like that. But according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (NCASA) (https://goo.gl...), most experts believe that because addicts consciously know turning themselves into a rehab center or doing something similar means that they will have to go through drug withdrawal. According to Mayo Clinic, withdrawal symptoms may include but are not limited to "muscle pain ... excessive hunger, lethargy, loss of appetite, night sweats, restlessness, shakiness, weakness, clammy skin, craving, feeling cold ... sweating ... gagging, nausea, vomiting, flatulence ... stomach cramps ... agitation ... delirium, depression, hallucination, paranoia ... severe anxiety ... insomnia, nightmares, sleepiness ... sleeping difficulty ... disorientation, mental confusion, racing thoughts ... slowness in activity ... boredom, feeling detached from self, loss of interest or pleasure in activities ... nervousness ... congestion or runny nose ... dilated pupil or watery eyes." Mayo Clinic also says that people experiencing drug withdrawal may cry, feel excitable, irritable, and they may even harm themselves. "Seizures, sensitivity to pain, slurred speech, teeth chattering, tingling feet, trembling, or tremor[s] [also common]," Mayo Clinic says. That is not a choice. This is why addiction influences perfectly normal to steal, lie, sneak, lose sleep, and even kill in order to get their drug, which their body physically needs. To top it off, NCASA says that addiction is "a complex disease of the brain and body that involves compulsive [which means there isn't a choice] use of one or more substances despite serious health and social consequences" and that addiction is the result of several choices, but a choice cannot undo the previous choices. Take heart disease for instance. The likelihood of heart disease is increased with choices, like the choice to eat unhealthy food, or live a sedentary lifestyle. However, once someone has heart disease, they cannot make a choice that cures them of the disease. They can go to a hospital, but that might not help. In the same way, addiction is a disease of the brain, according to NCASA. Quoting their website, "While the first use (or early stage use) may be by choice, once the brain has been changed by addiction, most experts believe that the person loses control of their behavior." NCASA also says that the people who manage to make the decision that pulls them out of addiction do not necessarily have more willpower or self-discipline than current addicts. Therefore, addiction experts actually do not understand why very few people manage to be cured by rehab center and then not relapse, or even cure their addiction through AA meetings or a 12-step program. In fact, according to AmericanAddictionCenters.org, the percentage of addicts who go through rehabilitation services and then relapse is at least 40%, and up to a staggering 60%. Another piece of evidence that shows addiction is not a choice is the fact that addiction can actually be passed down through genetics. You might think I mean that if a pregnant woman is an addict, then her baby is likely to be an addict as well. That is not what I mean. What I mean is if someone were to become an addict, their descendants (children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, etc) are more likely to become addicts as well, even though the disease is not passed down through the womb. Therefore, there must be a chromosome somewhere in the genetic code of human beings that influences someone to become an addict. You said that you can understand why a simpler animal, like a mouse, could be addicted and not have the choice to end the addiction. I see your logic, and it does make sense to me. But the trouble of it is, we humans are simpler animals than we might like to believe. Pretty much everything a person does, from volunteering for a charity to drinking alcohol to making love, is in pursuit of the happiness chemical, dopamine. To be honest, the only reason anyone uses the website is for the dopamine release produced both by victory and by feeling like you're right. The only reason people use social media is to satisfy the instinctual desire for a constant feed of information. Do you see? People do drugs for the dopamine and serotonin release, as well as to momentarily relieve all those horrible withdrawal symptoms I listed above.