Is addiction the core problem, or is it the marker for the core problem? Dr. Vincent Felitti from Kaiser Permanente, co-principal investigator of the Adverse Childhood Experiences study, challenges the conventional view that certain chemicals are intrinsically addicting. He presents evidence gleaned from the ongoing 17,000-person ACEs Study to illustrate that addiction is not a primary disease, but is an unconsciously attempted response to minimize the effects of abnormal life experiences, most commonly from the developmental years.