if a smoker packed in smoking .he/she would be an ex-smoker ! or would they always be a smoker ,even if they had not had a cigarette for years !!
just trying to confuse things a bit ......
technically, I suppose you can't be an ex-alcoholic any more than you can be an ex-diabetic; you remain one even if the illness is permanently under control. Still, no actual need to remind the sufferer forever that he/she is alcoholic; they don't need to be defined by their illness any more than diabetics do. They're just people who have a problem but have got on top of it.