Any hobby is an addiction (otherwise why would a person voluntarily engage in it?) and can become a severe form of addiction that will negatively affect a person. For example, computer games and collecting in them. I work in this field and I see with my own eyes how people pay a lot of money to own virtual items. And to be honest, this even affects me - I’m starting to value some virtual things more than money. So you need to understand that any activity can be dangerous if it turns into a severe form of addiction, and gambling is not much different from other activities.
I disagree with you.
A hobby can be healthy if practiced moderately so that it does not negatively affect the life of the person and others around them.
Only when it starts to cause some harm can it be called an addiction.
There are addictions that can initially be interpreted as positive, as I like to mention physical exercise as an example... when it goes beyond the balance of what is healthy and starts to significantly interfere in the life of this person, that is, the activity becomes a priority and can cause physical harm such as injuries and social and professional withdrawal, then it becomes an addiction.
However, the habit of going to the movies every weekend, going to the bar occasionally to have a drink with friends, watching a football game, gambling regularly in a conscious way... If you have plenty of time for this, it does not compromise your financial income and it does not cause any personal, family or social problems with friends. What's wrong with that?
I don’t understand what exactly you disagree with me about. Do you see any fundamental differences from going to the gym and, for example, to a pub? Me not. If you read/get to know the world of bodybuilding (and usually it all starts as a hobby), you will find out that there are 90-99 percent of very unhealthy (mentally and physically) people there. It seems to me that this corresponds to my words that any hobby is an addiction and any (even the best) hobby can take the form of an unhealthy addiction.