Thanks to the efforts of Idaho Educational Services, the North Idaho community of educators and healthcare professionals were treated to an all-day event with Dr. Kevin McCauley and came away with more understanding and empathy to what triggers an addict in crossing over that dark line into the world of addiction.

But more importantly, that addiction is as much a disease as diabetes or cancer,

Hosted by the Ascent program in Naples, Idaho on Jan. 16, Dr. Kevin McCauley spoke before 100 people at Northwest Academy's Summit Lodge--including teens attending Ascent's outdoor wilderness program along with others from Boulder Creek Academy and Northwest Academy --where he passionately argued that addiction is not a choice, as many physicians believe, but a disease.

Also in attendance were professionals representing schools and programs throughout the Northwest, including Timber Ridge Preparatory School, Life Designs, Elk Mountain and Elk Creek Academy, Echo Springs Transition Study Center, Clearview, and Wilderness Treatment Center.

McCauley--who was the director of medical education at Sober Living By the Sea Treatment Centers in southern California--blended a mix of humor, heartfelt emotion and candor as he maintained addiction is a brain disease that causes painful suffering like any other sickness. Along with a slide presentation, he also fielded a host of questions delving into the nature of addiction.

"All I do is think about 'is addiction really a disease? There's a lot riding on this question. It lies at the heart of everything we think about regarding addiction, and it's where we have to start."

McCauley--who has been treating a full spectrum of addiction from alcohol and drugs to gambling and co-dependency--has the unique quality of breaking down traditional clinical-speak of cause-and-effect to why Johnny does drugs and Susie binges, and cuts straight to the bone without pulling any punches or pointing a blame-finger.

He takes issue with author James Frey ("A Million Little Pieces") and attacks Frey's comment, "I don't care what some doctor says. It's (addiction) not a disease. It's a choice,"

"That doesn't make sense to me," said McCauley. "I'm not trying to be an evangelist; I just want to explore both sides. I think we have an obligation as doctors to explore this argument."

And explore it he did, with the precision of a surgeon's scalpel.

"There are very good arguments against calling addiction a disease," he said. "Real diseases like diabetes, many doctors say, aren't someone's choices. They also claim addicts can quit anytime. But proponents of the 'choice' argument not only show a failure of empathy; they do not understand the complete picture of addiction or the nature of the disease."

McCauley maintains addiction is clearly a brain disease, and drugs of abuse attack what he calls the 'reward centers' of the mid-brain.

"When drugs or alcohol become survival or life itself for and addict, that's when the line is crossed for addiction," he said,

But what--in McCauley's view stemming from his years of sobriety treatment--causes crossing that very fine line?

He's convinced beyond any doubt its severe stress.

"I'm talking about major stress that sticks around and doesn't go away," he said. "We all don't come to the same table with the same coping mechanisms, or even the same brain."

It's this unbearable build-up of stress, McCauley contends, that causes intense craving.

"Craving for the addict is being up in the middle of the night, craving just one more hit, one more drink and the sound of ice tumbling in a glass, one more pull on a syringe," he said. "Make no mistake--that is genuine, profound suffering. I believe it's the presence of craving alone that defeats the 'choice' argument. Even if addicts aren't using, they are craving, and within that craving there is intense suffering."

It's also McCauley's contention that because addiction is a disease, you don't put people suffering from it behind bars. To do so, he says, is criminal.

Approximately, 8.2 million have been incarcerated for addiction in the U.S.

"That's a great moral evil, and this cannot go on," he said. "It must be fought."

With the advances in treating addiction over the last several years, the successful track record for sobriety fills McCauley with renewed hope.

"There's never been a better time for getting sober," he said. "In the last five years, we have finally learned more about addiction than ever. People are getting sober in the first and second time of treatment, not in their fifth or sixth time. I'm seeing patients with 10 years of sobriety, who are 24 years old. Do you know how good that makes a healthcare worker feel?"

For McCauley and others treating addiction, that's powerful stuff.

"Once addiction becomes a disease, addicts become patients," he said. "When we adhere to this, we'll have a more understanding, safer and humane world where we can come up with real, workable treatments. It's something I honestly feel can save the world."

Dr. Kevin McCauley has lectured throughout the world providing information for people struggling with or recovering from addiction as well as to healthcare professionals and the public. A graduate from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and a former U.S.Navy flight surgeon, he provides the AddictionDoctor.com website as a service for those seeking information.