The brain chemistry of addiction has puzzled doctors and psychiatrists for years fueling a debate on whether or not addiction is a medical condition.  For that reason, 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 kept the debate going.  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.