The expectation/pleasure/reward cascade in the limbic forebrain of the human being, and how experiences of certain natures tend to modulate and/or hyperstimulate this system, with its associated effects on physical sensation, emotional experience, and cognition.
I don't consider addiction as a disease, so I don't consider a cure for it.
I do think there are experiences as caused by certain stimuli that are not beneficial to the human being in question as well as the larger contexts of their family, friends, community, and the relationships with those people.
It must be considered that the limbic system responsible for seeking out the objects of addiction is also responsible for the seeking and reward of self-supportive and nourishing behaviors, relationships, and things.
To "cure" someone of their addictive potential would be to do harm as it regards my experience, per my knowledge, and in relation to my values.
That said, I do very much value when people seek the reward of those things that are healthy (homeostasis of the body, self-supportive choices as it regards the body, the self, and relationships, nourishing as it regards vitality and function) for them, and do not value the opposite.
The dynamics of the effects of the addictive behavior choices differ depending on the stimuli, and this of course alters the ease or lack thereof of choosing other behaviors, the effects on health - whether physical, emotional, or mental (if you care to think of the unified human being as differentiated systems) - and the effects on the relationships the addicted individual has with their family, friends, community - and ultimately, their own person.
As it concerns the underlying nature though, I do think it is the same regardless of the behavior choices and the situation.
cheers,
Ian