Drug Addiction as a Brain Disorder or Disease

To the Editor: The Special Communication on treating drug abuse and addiction in the criminal justice system by Dr Chandler and colleagues¹ appeared to use inconsistent nomenclature. On page 183, the authors wrote that addiction is a “brain disorder.” Yet on page 189, they wrote that addiction is a “chronic brain disease.” I would appreciate clarification of this apparent discrepancy, with bibliographic documentation for these diagnoses if possible.