Letters: The addiction myth and Amy Winehouse

Tanya Gold perpetuates the self-serving myth that "addiction" is a "mental illness" or a "disease" (Amy is dead, a myth is born, 25 July). This is a gross insult to everyone afflicted by genuine illness or disease. People with the lifestyle problems of reckless or excessive drinking or drug-taking are the active agents in their own difficulties. Most serve long careers and spend vast amounts of money in cultivating the "addict" persona.There is no mystery: people drink or take drugs because thes...

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