Determining whether words make descriptive sense is in everyone's jurisdiction. I'd argue that it's a duty of sorts.
Thus, when a bunch of medical doctors get together and start arbitrarily labeling every non-normative condition a "disease", I view it as faintly akin to mechanics telling everyone who comes through the door that they've a "broken engine". Yes, it conveys that there is a serious problem, and in many cases it may even be true, but it is not usefully descriptive. AFAICT, until ~ the early 20th century, a disease referred to a disorder caused by external pathogens or some sort of autoimmune malfunction.
Now, I don't myself dispute that "alcoholism" describes something very real and quite serious (I also don't think it's crazy to dispute this claim, though), but it's important to know what words mean.