I have been sober for 26 years. I see Republican attacks on Hunter Biden’s sobriety as a warning.

The accusation rested Friday at Hunter Biden trial, in which he faces three federal charges linked to possession of a weapon while using narcotics. Criminal gun charges stem from allegations Biden lied about a firearm purchase form about his sobriety. He has declared himself innocent in a trial that is the culmination of years of investigations into the president’s youngest son, led by several pro-Donald Trump Republicans.

During the trial, the prosecution presented the jury with audio of Biden’s memoir, “Beautiful Things,” in which he discusses his struggle with addiction, as evidence that Biden was not sober at the time he purchased the gun. The prosecution also presented this text message exchange between Biden and his then-girlfriend Zoe Kestan: “I may be sober, but I will always be an addict. And the addict is both me and the one you love to hate.”

To someone who is not very familiar with addiction, this may seem ominous, like some kind of admission on Biden’s part. But anyone who has experience with addiction knows it’s not that simple.

I have been sober for 26 years in the Alcoholics Anonymous program and we are taught to think of our sobriety as an everyday thing. We learn the fundamental belief that despite our sobriety, we will always be, deep down, addicts. We will never be cured of our addiction. I am granted daily relief from the disease of alcoholism, one day at a time. I took my first drink at age 3 and my last (I hope) at 19. The personal details of the addiction vary; Biden’s struggle with addiction is very typical. I’ve never had a legal drink (since I was too young to do so legally). Many alcoholics struggle to stay sober, and some people have to go back and forth before they get “it.” Many of them eventually do.

This is not an attempt to prove innocence or guilt arising from Biden’s actions; but the basis and nature of the prosecution’s argument is problematic because Biden talks about his “hound dog” The instinct when it comes to looking for crack, his drug of choice, shows that he is sick with the disease of addiction – not that he is guilty or that his actions are harmful. I hope the jury can keep this in mind as they deliberate Biden’s fate in the coming days or weeks.

Biden and I are not the only addicts. About 16% of Americans (but probably more) struggle with alcohol and drug addiction. There are around 48 million people.

Fox News’ “The Five” co-host Jeanine Pirro reportedly complained about “eight jurors who have someone in their family who has had a drug or alcohol addiction problem or someone who has died from alcohol or addiction. So they picked a jury that is sympathetic.” Aaron Blake of the Washington Post pointed out that “8 of 12 jurors = 66%. This is exactly in line with the population.”

And herein lies the problem with the ongoing Republican attack on Biden: Seating jurors with experiences with addiction to varying degrees does not make the jury “sympathetic.” It makes you informed. Addiction is a disease. People who struggle with addiction are sick, not bad. Large areas of the country are affected by alcohol and drug addiction that affects not only them, but their families and people who are even tangentially linked to them – the addict’s parents, grandparents and children, brothers and sisters and acquaintances. Alcoholism and drug addiction are long-tailed diseases, a disease that spreads through our society in countless ways.

Also on Fox News, presenter Jesse Watters hinted that President Joe Biden was a bad father and that he, as a father, was to blame for Hunter Biden’s substance abuse problems. Shaming addicts and their families has always been a trope. But as we learn more about substance abuse, we now know that genetic predisposition can be difficult or even impossible to combat. I for one truly believe I was born an alcoholic. My mother was an alcoholic. My grandmother was an alcoholic. My body processed alcohol differently than my peers. Some nights I could have 10 or 15 drinks and look completely sober; Some nights, one or two drinks would give me an epic blackout and I would lose hours of the night.

Watters issued another bold statement: “Trump’s children don’t use drugs or smoke cigarettes. They are part of the family business, they have beautiful families.” Which may or may not be true – but we know that Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, wrote about her father losing his battle with alcoholism. This would mean that both the Biden family and the Trump family have some level of genetic predisposition to alcoholism, just like my family and many others.

For Republicans to go after Hunter Biden for his addiction in this way is a dangerous game. More people than you realize are affected by alcoholism and addiction, and shaming the addict’s family is neither productive nor grounded in any basis of effectiveness.

For years, Republicans have used photos of crack addict Hunter Biden as a kind of indictment of his father. But when I look at these photos, I see a warning.

I’ve been sober for 26 years, but I have the same disease of addiction as Hunter Biden. Being sober does not make me a better person than the people who practice their addiction. That just makes me luckier than them.

This article was originally published in MSNBC.com