At some point, it really becomes beyond your control. At that point, it is truly a disease.
Talk to some REAL alcoholics. Talk to some REAL addicts. They will tell you stories of their experience and you will come away with a mixed opinion. You, like I, will recognize that up to a certain point, it's choice. Then you, like I, will admit that after that point, the power of choice is taken away.
If I was to take my friend and lock him up when he was drinking, he would stop drinking (by force). My other friend would still have cancer. One has a problem that requires an act to give the condition, the other has it no matter what. Now, is there brain changes or predispositions that can affect addictive behavior? Of course. My friend has an addictive personality. What worked for him, and others, is to change the cue and habit that caused him to drink and do drugs with something else. He did it first with smoking cigarettes, and lately with exercise.
My point is that I have seen people with destructive behavior say “it is a disease!” and then stop trying to change. May be the people I have managed and known, but calling it a disease was not helpful. When they admit that 1. Have a problem that is out of control, and 2. That there is a possibility to get it under control, they start to get help. Those who have have said "It is a disease!" have had no motivation to change or get help. They view the addiction as something that can not get fixed or treated.
Now this is just from my experience with the people I have known. And from my experience with people is that once you let them take on the mantle of "victim" they loose motivation to change.