“People with alcoholism can’t control their drinking.”
I disagree.
I think it is unusually hard to control it.
However, there is no machine forcing the hand to grip the bottle, take it to their lips, swallow. Will is involved.
As opposed to the person with a migraine; they can’t will it away. A person with kidney failure can’t make his kidneys work by making a decision, however difficult. A person with IBS can’t make their bowels function properly.
An alcoholic is not the moral equivalent to a man with pancreatic cancer. The man with pancreatic cancer REALLY has a disease that he himself can not stop from advancing. An alcoholic is capable of not drinking again. It would be way harder for him not to drink today than for me; I grant you that. Still, it can be done.
So there is a big difference.
Will, and habit, is involved. I have known people who were prone to addiction realize it, refocus their habits, and never drink or use drugs again.
My best friend woke up one day, put the bottle down, and never picked it up. He comes from a family of alcoholics, and didn't want to become his Dad. That isn't a “normal” case, but as you said, you can't will away a disease.
Calling alcoholism a disease only enables those who suffer from it. A disease is beyond your control. I know quite a few obese people who say they have the overeating disease. No, they are choosing to eat to much.