Addiction” is a will-power problem.

This is an old belief, probably based upon wanting to blame “addicts” for using drugs to excess. This myth is reinforced by the observation that most “treatments” for alcoholism and “addiction” are behavioral (talk) therapies (including Twelve Steps). But “addiction” occurs in a subconscious area of the brain that is not under conscious control, the mesolimbic dopamine system. Also, there appears to be a pathology of the frontal lobes associated with chemical dependence, and frontal lobes are were decision-making takes place in the brain. If there is a problem with the decision-making portion of the brain, can we say they have weak “will-power” when that portion of the brain is not working properly?