Previous discussions of addiction have often focused on the question of whether addiction is a disease. This discussion distinguishes that question – the disease question – from the question of whether addiction is a disability. I argue that, however one answers the disease question, and indeed on almost any credible account of addiction, addiction is a disability. I then consider the implications of this view, or why it matters that addiction is a disability. The disease model of addiction has led many to see addiction as primarily a medical problem, and to make medical treatment of the addicted person the first priority in addressing addiction. Once addiction is viewed as a disability (whether or not it is also a disease), different concerns are foregrounded. The problem of addiction resides not only in the addicted person, but also in the social environment in which the addicted person finds herself. The fundamental ethical question about addiction is not how addicted persons can be treated or otherwise changed, but how a just society can make reasonable accommodations for addicted persons.

先前关于成瘾的讨论通常集中在成瘾是否是疾病的问题上。这次讨论区分了这个问题–疾病问题–从成瘾是否是残疾的问题开始。我认为，尽管有人回答了疾病问题，但实际上，几乎在任何可靠的成瘾原因下，成瘾都是一种残疾。然后，我考虑这种观点的含义，或者说成瘾是一种残疾为什么很重要。成瘾的疾病模型已使许多人将成瘾视为主要的医学问题，并将成瘾者的医疗作为解决成瘾问题的重中之重。一旦将成瘾视为一种残疾（无论它是否也是一种疾病），就会提出不同的担忧。成瘾的问题不仅存在于成瘾者中，而且存在于成瘾者发现自己的社会环境中。关于成瘾的基本的道德问题不是上瘾者如何得到治疗或以其他方式改变，