[delmioquartiere]

Originally Posted by 68vette

I think it depends on how you look at the person. It is a disease and like some diseases this one is not curable. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was a good example of this. He struggled with the disease for over 20 years. Are all addicts bad people? It depends on what they do to support their habit. Most addicts are not wealthy people or they don't all make enough to support their habit. When they get to the point where they steal, rob or commit other crime because of their disease, doesn't mean they can get a free pass. Sometimes they can simply steal from their family to support their habit or steal and not get caught. If the family is willing to support the addict, try and help or forgive them then that is fine. The victim of any crime is scarred for life. You don't trust people the same way, you constantly have your eye on everyone around you, etc. To the victim, they are bad people.
Just looking at the federal data for drug related crime it is broken down like this. There were 99,426 people that were sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction for drug related crimes. Of these 11,688 were for violent offenses, 11,568 were for property offenses and the remainder were for public order which includes 23,700 for immigration offenses, 30,046 for weapons offenses, and 17,633 for "other." The state percentages are almost identical, but of course the numbers are higher. The exception being immigration offences, the states break it down with other listings such as driving under the influence,etc. About a quarter of prisoners in jail for drug related crimes damaged another human being or their family and the other 30,000 with weapons, who knows what they did before they were caught. How you judge an addict depends on what side of the fence you stand on.

Sorry to disagree but I've never had this disease, I guess that was by choice!

[RunawayJim]

Originally Posted by delmioquartiere

Sorry to disagree but I've never had this disease, I guess that was by choice!

I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with. Addiction is a disease. It doesn't matter if you're addicted to heroin, meth, alcohol, gambling, prescription medication, or cigarettes. It's a disease. Yes, there is a choice to be made. But some people are wired to instantly get hooked. Some people it takes longer. Some people try something that helps them. It's prescribed to them. They keep getting it refilled (because some doctors don't pick up on it). Then they realize it's costing them, so they move on to something that's cheaper. Some people smoke a cigarette thinking they'll never get hooked. Twenty years later they're still smoking and trying to quit because it become synonymous with something (relaxation is often a reason). Some people go to a casino and put a $20 in the slot machine. It's only $20, right? Well, it feels good to win, even if you only win $1 at a time. But you put more money in because you never know when you'll hit the big one. You know the odds are heavily stacked against you, but you can't stop.

Addiction is a disease. It's not a choice. Plenty of people can do a lot of those things and stop whenever they want. There are plenty others who cannot stop without help. And there are still more who, even with help, have a hard time keeping away.

[delmioquartiere]

Originally Posted by RunawayJim

I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with. Addiction is a disease. It doesn't matter if you're addicted to heroin, meth, alcohol, gambling, prescription medication, or cigarettes. It's a disease. Yes, there is a choice to be made. But some people are wired to instantly get hooked. Some people it takes longer. Some people try something that helps them. It's prescribed to them. They keep getting it refilled (because some doctors don't pick up on it). Then they realize it's costing them, so they move on to something that's cheaper. Some people smoke a cigarette thinking they'll never get hooked. Twenty years later they're still smoking and trying to quit because it become synonymous with something (relaxation is often a reason). Some people go to a casino and put a $20 in the slot machine. It's only $20, right? Well, it feels good to win, even if you only win $1 at a time. But you put more money in because you never know when you'll hit the big one. You know the odds are heavily stacked against you, but you can't stop.

Addiction is a disease. It's not a choice. Plenty of people can do a lot of those things and stop whenever they want. There are plenty others who cannot stop without help. And there are still more who, even with help, have a hard time keeping away.

I have relatives sitting in jail right now, heroin addicts. Both boys mothers death certificate stated three words as cause of death Chronic Substance Abuse. They grew up and chose to do drugs. So sad, too bad.

Edit the 23 year old just had a baby with his addicted G/F in November,,the baby is now with the state, The cycle continues.

[RunawayJim]

Originally Posted by delmioquartiere

I have relatives sitting in jail right now, heroin addicts. Both boys mothers death certificate stated three words as cause of death Chronic Substance Abuse. They grew up and chose to do drugs. So sad, too bad.

Edit the 23 year old just had a baby with his addicted G/F in November,,the baby is now with the state, The cycle continues.

Addiction is a disease that can be passed down through generations. Families with a history of alcoholism are often that way because of genetics. The next generation would have to choose to drink, but the cause of the alcoholism isn't entirely the choice to drink.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by delmioquartiere

Sorry to disagree but I've never had this disease, I guess that was by choice!

This was discussed on a friend's FB page. It was sort of a chicken and egg scenario. Any one of us can be genetically predispositioned to become an addict; we don't find out unless we chose to use a potentially addictive substance. However, there are cases in which people were given prescriptions for Oxycontin for pain -- they didn't seek it out as a user -- and subsequently, they became addicted. Those are the innocents who did not chose to become addicts.

[vter]

Guys...since this thread has evolved into a more general discussion about drug addiction I'm going to go ahead and close the thread. You can continue to discuss this topic in the Health and Wellness Forum. Thanks.