In 2007  Senator Joe Biden wanted to change the name of the National Institute on Drug Abuse to the National Institute on Diseases, and change the name of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to the National Institute on Alcohol Disorders and Health.  The bill didn’t become law, but sparked an ongoing debate about whether addiction is bonafide disease.  Opposing views are chronicled in:  Medical Misnomer… followed by convincing counter response written by the Institute for Addiction Study NIDA, The National Institute on Drug Abuse, claims that addiction is a chronic disease.