The author thinks that maybe a addiction is a developmental issue, or a sort of learning disability and he questions the AA-informed "progressive disease" model

The author thinks that maybe a addiction is a developmental issue, or a sort of learning disability and he questions the AA-informed "progressive disease" model of addiction. It's an important topic, and well worth discussing. I don't know what I have to add to the discussion, though. I came from a pretty difficult childhood, with a fairly messed-up family. I live in an area with a lot of rehabs, and a lot of my friends, through the years, have been involved in recovery. I'm comfortable around recovering addicts. I can relate to a lot of their experiences. I could have easily gone down that path. But, for whatever reason, alcoholism or addiction were never much of a problem in my life. In some sense it must have seemed like a good idea during the active addiction. Why is it so hard to see the problem? The years of addiction (averages - cocaine, 4; marijuana, 6; alcohol, 15) -- that's a lot of years of destruction to rebuild from. That's a lot of, what, blindness? justification? lack of self awareness?