Is addiction a disease? (Mechanically speaking...)

[Rogozhin]

So the friendly smuggler who gave our party a ride turns out to be a drug peddler whose vile weed is corrupting the youth in town. They can join in the business or help rid the town of the scourge... but until they decide our paladin has been laying on hands on some folks struggling with flu-like withdrawal symptoms. I've had the divine healing, which cures diseases, cure the withdrawal symptoms in the immediate, but should this cure the addiction? Ending addiction feels too powerful for a 1st level paladin... any thoughts or advice appreciated.

[Elysiume]

So the friendly smuggler who gave our party a ride turns out to be a drug peddler whose vile weed is corrupting the youth in town. They can join in the business or help rid the town of the scourge... but until they decide our paladin has been laying on hands on some folks struggling with flu-like withdrawal symptoms. I've had the divine healing, which cures diseases, cure the withdrawal symptoms in the immediate, but should this cure the addiction? Ending addiction feels too powerful for a 1st level paladin... any thoughts or advice appreciated.I assume it depends on the edition, but in Pathfinder (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/gameMasteryGuide/drugsAndAddiction.html):

Drugs are alchemical items that grant effects to those who make use of them. What sets them apart from similar items is that a drug's effects manifest as both a short term (usually beneficial) effect and an amount of ability damage. In addition, those who take drugs also risk addiction, a type of disease of varying severity depending on the type of drug used.
[...]
As addictions are diseases, they can be cured as such, through the use of spells like remove disease or by succeeding at Fortitude saves over time.

[Rogozhin]

I assume it depends on the edition, but in Pathfinder (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/gameMasteryGuide/drugsAndAddiction.html):

Thanks! That's super helpful. We're playing d&d 5e... but this is a good bit of insight.

[Koo Rehtorb]

Personally I'd say yes.

[Murk]

If you really want to make this an important thing (not sure), you could also differentiate between the physical addiction and the mental addiction, where cure spells cure the physical part, but not the habit, the lifestyle, etc.
So, if the characters are cured, they will not have the bodily craving anymore, but they might still want to escape their miserable life by drinking away their sorrows and end up drunk every evening anyway.
Paladins can cure bodies, but they can't cure entire lives with one spell.

[Pronounceable]

It's a curse. Your pally/cleric can still fix it but needs to be higher level. Also why a single level 1 paladin doesn't destroy entire narcotics industry of the world.

[Zingzing Jr.]

I would believe that a minor case of addiction is a 1st level spell slot. The symptoms are can trip level, and a major addiction would be 2+.

[Anonymouswizard]

First off, addiction is relatively complex and I am not an expert on the topic in any way, shape, or form. In fact I am an electronic engineer, so expect this post to occasionally contain horrifically oversimplified or wrong information.

Okay, the idea of addiction as something that happens and persists without other factors is probably a giant misunderstanding. Now drugs effect people in different ways, I know someone who's drug use hasn't really affected them (although they have a host of other problems), while my cousin sort of had his life indirectly ruined by drugs without suffering any major health problems (which is why I'm hesitant about legalising many drugs in real life), but I've been lucky enough enough to never met anybody who's life has been directly ruined by drugs.

Note that addiction can happen for a variety of reasons, and I'd say certainly that even if the physical symptoms of withdrawal are cured it's only going to come back if the underlying reasons aren't treated. Note that removing the supply isn't always going to solve the problem, and the addiction might just sit to something else. If personally rule that even if addiction is a disease it has no easy cues without mind alteration (which is an evil act).

[Geddy2112]

Yes, addiction is a disease, but also

If you really want to make this an important thing (not sure), you could also differentiate between the physical addiction and the mental addiction, where cure spells cure the physical part, but not the habit, the lifestyle, etc.
So, if the characters are cured, they will not have the bodily craving anymore, but they might still want to escape their miserable life by drinking away their sorrows and end up drunk every evening anyway.

This.

[Jormengand]

In 3.5, addiction wasn't a disease but was specified to function "Much like" one and could be removed by remove disease and similar abilties.

[Frozen_Feet]

Addictions and mental illnesses fit poorly in the poison-disease-dichtomy of D&D. My ruling would be that poison covers toxins, venoms as well as chemical and elemental poisons, where as disease cover viral, bacterial and fungal infections as well as some parasites. This would leave addictions and many mental illnesses outside the ability of cure poison and remove disease to deal with, as they are caused by neither *).

*) from a biomechanic viewpoint, addiction is caused by you first taking in a poison, then taking in more poison to shake off withdrawal symptoms. Continue long enough and this becomes a habit, compounded by social and lifestyle factors. Force of habit is powerfull, but can't be fairly characterized as mental illness. With most drugs, once you're past the withdrawal, it really is just a matter of willpower to keep yourself relapsing.

[Thaneus]

We assume: All drugs are poison; poisons have a lethal dose; poison even in non lethal dose have an impact on the body; all non organic "living" stuff which change the body function in any way out of normal parameter are poisons

So basically we have the functionality of drugs, they are poison in a non lethal dose (except the golden shot) which effect the body in some kind of way.

We assume: when the human body does not function in a normal operative manner it is sick, put out of balance.

Conclusion: Doing drugs and becoming addicted is causing a poisoned body. The effect and the damage this poison creates depends on several factors. Being poisoned is a sub-state of sickness, because not all sickness can be explained by poison.

Proof:
Drinking Alcohol -> light poison intoxication leads to "lossen up" of moral and becoming more "air-headed" a moderate intoxication for alcohol leads to sickness, being dizzy and disorientation a heavy intoxication leads to vomiting, loss of surrounding, loss of all higher brain function (unconsciousness), a lethal dose leads to stopping of all secure reflexes of the body and bradycardia reaction, most the time the victim suffocates and dies when unattended.
Flu -> is caused by a virus which damages the body. Heavy affects might lead to pneumonia or cardiac issues or even death.

Cause of addiction:
because of the ability of changing the functions in the body some poison posses the ability to cause an euphoric effect because of the creation of dopamine.
Because of this the body feels "this is good, this i need to do more"! This dopamine is the evolutionary step to get a species to "move on" or "reproduce" to further propel the evolutionary engine.
You get basically addicted to it because you crave the dopamine.

Even water can be a poison when drunk in a unusual high dose which is called hyperhydration (water intoxication), if i remember right its above ~5L for 75kg weight in 3 minutes. "unfortunately" drinking to much water wont ever cause dopamine to flow, except when drinking after a previous dehydration.

[Seclora]

In 5e, I would say that it is a Flaw, which would put it more along the lines of an Indefinite Madness. Greater Restoration is the most likely magical solution.

This being said, if the person doesn't see the drug as wrong, or as being adequately problematic so as not to be worth whatever benefits the drugs provide, then no amount of magical cure would actually be effective. Try persuading them that the behavior is bad first, then treating the symptoms while they focus on recovery.