A Controversial Argument Against the Disease Theory of Addiction There is absolutely no proven scientific evidence supporting the misconception that substance abuse and other addictions are genetically acquired diseases. Shocked? Diseasing of America is a powerful and controversial rebuttal to the addiction as disease model that many vested interests-including doctors, counselors, psychologists, treatment centers, and twelve-step programs that specialize in addiction treatment-don’t want you to read. I found the arguments in Diseasing of America persuasive and carefully documented. While I find current addiction-treatment models helpful, I think it is critical to look at Stanton Peele’s work to question our fundamental assumptions and adjust them on the basis of data. -Jennifer P. Schneider, author of Back From Betrayal and Sex, Lies, and Forgiveness, and member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine A provocative review of the uses and abuses of the disease model in the past three decades. This important book has significantly added to my education and clinical understanding of addiction in my professional practice. -Richard R. Irons, M.D., The Menninger Clinic