Is addiction genetic?

My grandfather on both sides are/were alcoholic. My dad is such a drug addicted alcoholic that he lives off welfare and in section 8 b/c he’s so handicapped with his addiction, and constantly in/out of programs. Long story short, my family is brainwashed into believing that addiction is this horrible thing to blame, and it’s not our fault, it’s the addicts fault.

Needless to say, every one’s story is different, my dad is hopeless but my grandfather owned a pharmacy all his life and made so much $ he retired at 40. My other grandpa is a functional alchy, and my stepdad (I know, not genetic) stopped drinking for 15+ years but went back to the bottle and is now a functional alcoholic.

Too many details. The bottom line is, growing up I’ve always heard, “be careful, you have ‘the gene.’”

Well I drink when I want, sometimes it’s Thursday, Friday, Saturday, sometimes it’s just on a Saturday, sometimes it’s not at all. I do chewing tobacco (something that seems very addictive) at the rate of about two cans a year, b/c I’ll get in the mood, do a can over a period of a couple months, then be over it for MONTHS.

So it seems to me my genes aren’t the same ones my family is talking about LOL

What are your thoughts on this? Just curious . . .