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You're all heart. I know a few couples who have lost their children to drugs, and none of them have ever considered their children "scumbags, loser drug addicts".
You have a personal issue and expect others to have the same issue, but thankfully, most people don't think the way you do.
This is the US not Europe they don't believe in harm reduction. In the US drug users and people that have drinking problem are viewed non human.
There was major controversy pushing Vancouver safe injection site into the US. The US viewed this as every thing the DEA was not happy with.
We blame Mexicans etal for bringing tons of drugs into the country but little is said about the people who are buying and using these drugs and therefore creating the market for the importation of illegal drugs in the first place.
If you think a wall is going to stop the problem you are in for some major disappointment as the market for drugs will still exist and those that want to use drugs will find a way to buy and use them...
I'm with you. I don't get this mentality at all when it comes to other human beings, but then, compassion isn't in for fellow Americans these days.
Most Americans can't even spell the word compassion, even nurses and those in the health care field. I work with nurses and, after 15 years, I'm still trying to find a truly compassionate nurse.
What most American are unable to do is look for the symptoms underneath the causes. How many of these heroin users said at age 5: I'm going to be a heroin addict some day!
Addictions are addictions are addictions, and we all have them, everyone of us.
If you can't give up your addiction to television, tobacco, owning a car, having a Smartphone, then you're in the same league as any addict, and how dare you judge another addict!
As they say: Point a finger at someone, you're pointing 3 fingers at yourself!
Most Americans can't even spell the word compassion, even nurses and those in the health care field. I work with nurses and, after 15 years, I'm still trying to find a truly compassionate nurse.
What most American are unable to do is look for the symptoms underneath the causes. How many of these heroin users said at age 5: I'm going to be a heroin addict some day!
Addictions are addictions are addictions, and we all have them, everyone of us.
If you can't give up your addiction to television, tobacco, owning a car, having a Smartphone, then you're in the same league as any addict, and how dare you judge another addict!
As they say: Point a finger at someone, you're pointing 3 fingers at yourself!
So you equate someone "addicted" to television as the same as someone addicted to heroin?
Is that your way of condoning drug addiction? And yes I will judge a true addict. They are weak people who use their addiction as a crutch. To hell with them. If they OD all the better. They contribute nothing and only take from society.
You're all heart. I know a few couples who have lost their children to drugs, and none of them have ever considered their children "scumbags, loser drug addicts".
You have a personal issue and expect others to have the same issue, but thankfully, most people don't think the way you do.
And this is why the problem remains. Because those parents of drug addicted children are enablers.
Drug addicts will lie and steal and even kill other family members to get their next fix. Why would anyone want anything to do with such a person....even another family member? PArents are huge enablers of their drug addicted children. Ever watch the show INTERVENTION? What is the first thing the Interventionist says? It stops here and now! No more enabling your child!!! Let them hit rock bottom!
And they get ONE chance to get clean. After that cut them lose! Another poster commented that he spent over $200,000 to help get their child clean. Really? So after the first $20,000 you could not see that your child was not ready to quit drugs? So you just throw good money after bad??? YEah sounds like a plan to me.
And what about the responsibility of the drug addicted scumbag? What gives them the right to tear families apart and make every other family member's life miserable? How SELFISH!!! No one ever blames the drug addict cuz
"Oh no they have a "disease."
You're right. Most people don't think the way I do. And this is why the problem persists and grows.
I will say it again. Drug addicts are totally worthless, scumbag, human beings. They voluntarily made a decision to engage in a behavior which they knew would harm themselves and their family members. They contribute nothing to society and suck away at the resources which tax payers end up paying for i.e. rescue/ police/ hospital. If an addict does not seek help......a fatal overdose solves the problem and allows the family to be rid of the problem.
There is no lack of tragedy for most drug addicts with or without the threat of being locked in a cage for years-there is no specific tragedy or degree of tragedy that magically solves someone's addiction. It is first and foremost a chemical imbalance-a sort of mental illness that is usually worsened by other underlying mental illnesses like severe depression. Often, it is a tragedy or trauma that has led a person to addiction in the first place.
There are also many "rock bottoms" and so many different stories and outcomes. Some people function and go to work daily with addictions, some OD and die within Months, etc. There is no "one size fits all" solution-which is why prohibition/incarceration has failed and continues to fail so miserably.
I agree with you that there are different stories and outcomes and situations in the lives of addcits. I also do believe that addiction is a disease. However, I also believe that addiction, like many cancers and heart disease and even type II diabetes is a disease that is affected by the lifestyle choices we make in our lives. I know for a fact that addiction runs in my family (as does cancer and heart disease and kidney disease). Due to that, I make choices when it comes to not using illegal drugs also I decline the use of narcotic prescription drugs because I don't want those to be a catalyst for addiction. Same as I do my best to eat healthy and exercise to lessen the chance of developing the physical ailments mentioned above that are common in my family.
In regards to underlying mental illnesses, I agree that that is a factor, however, IMO that is a small factor in regards to addiction. Due to my father's experiences, I have been involved in the NA community for decades. I went to meetings and participated in various events with NA during my childhood and teenage years and have worked via my career as well with people who have substance abuse issues and alcoholism. Many of them did not come to their addictions because of mental illness. Like my dad, many of them came to those parts of their lives due to tragedy occurring and them not dealing with those tragedies in a healthy way (my dad lost both is parents when he was a teenager. His mom had cancer in the 1970s during a time when there was no treatment besides surgery and no outcome except death. She died when she was only 35 and he was 14 year old at the time. That started him into using drugs and drinking when she was still alive - he didn't want to face her death and those habits progressed for 15 years until crack came on the scene and he became a crackhead. His grandparents did everything they could to help him via grief counseling and rehab but he kept getting into trouble due to his addiction. When he was finally caught up in a huge crack cocaine sweep in our city in the late 80s, his grandmother had told him if he got into trouble again she was not going to help him. She was very well off and could have paid to get him off/out of prison via a good lawyer because his charges were not extremely severe, but she didn't and he had to go to prison. She thought it would make him face the facts that this wonderful woman also instilled in me - everyone gets depressed sometimes, everyone loses someone they love, you have to work to get through those tragedies, you have to live a decent life to be decently treated and live with the consequences of your bad decisions in life. You will still be loved and cared about within the family but you need to take responsibility for yourself and no one can make you do anything if you don't want to do it). IMO no other person can make an addict stop using drugs. No matter how much mom or dad want their kids to get off drugs, no matter how many kids want their parents to get off of drugs, the addict has to want it and they have to want it for themselves to be successful. In order to want it, they need to experience the ills of their bad decisions and IMO many of them need to experience prison in order to "get" to that point in their lives to reflect and see what they are doing to themselves and their families.
Everyone gets depressed sometimes, like my great grandmother always told me. You need to realize it and get some help. People love you but you have to love yourself more.
Severe mental illness is another beast all together but most people on drugs today do not have any sort of severe mental illness. They tried some drugs and got hooked via hanging out with certain people/partying, they were sad and didn't want to work through their sadness and they tried some drugs and got hooked, they were prescribed some Rx drugs that were super strong and they got hooked. They need to go through multiple tragedies to decide to get off of drugs. Unfortunately many die going through those tragedies. I feel more for the families than the addicts themselves because I have been on that side of addiction and I know that families, no matter how much they love their addicted relative, they cannot force them to get off of drugs. The addict has to do it themselves and many times they need to go to prison and suffer other horrible situations to make them battle themselves and the addiction of disease to get it under control.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,480,204 times
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I'm reading J.D. Vance's best selling book "Hillbilly Elegy" and he has a great paragraph about how Republicans coddle working class Whites (including drug addicts) by telling them that all their problems are caused by Big Government and Obama. The reality is many such people make bad choice after bad choice and totally refuse to take the blame for their life failures. Vance knew a guy about to become a father who quite a good job because he didn't like to get up early. Vance then saw the guy putting things on Facebook like "I can't get a job in the Obama economy, get that monkey out of the White House". Was it Obama or the guy's own decisions to blame? Vance is a GOP diehard and openly admits it's the later.
Hopefully as a wake up call to acknowledge drug and alcohol abuse as a public health issue and eliminate this police state we've created by treating it as a law enforcement issue.
There have been junkies and OD's going all the way back to when alcohol and drugs were first invented. Let the junkies die out. Nothing anyone can do about it.
And this is why the problem remains. Because those parents of drug addicted children are enablers.
Drug addicts will lie and steal and even kill other family members to get their next fix. Why would anyone want anything to do with such a person....even another family member? PArents are huge enablers of their drug addicted children. Ever watch the show INTERVENTION? What is the first thing the Interventionist says? It stops here and now! No more enabling your child!!! Let them hit rock bottom!
And they get ONE chance to get clean. After that cut them lose! Another poster commented that he spent over $200,000 to help get their child clean. Really? So after the first $20,000 you could not see that your child was not ready to quit drugs? So you just throw good money after bad??? YEah sounds like a plan to me.
And what about the responsibility of the drug addicted scumbag? What gives them the right to tear families apart and make every other family member's life miserable? How SELFISH!!! No one ever blames the drug addict cuz
"Oh no they have a "disease."
You're right. Most people don't think the way I do. And this is why the problem persists and grows.
I will say it again. Drug addicts are totally worthless, scumbag, human beings. They voluntarily made a decision to engage in a behavior which they knew would harm themselves and their family members. They contribute nothing to society and suck away at the resources which tax payers end up paying for i.e. rescue/ police/ hospital. If an addict does not seek help......a fatal overdose solves the problem and allows the family to be rid of the problem.
I agree with you 100%. Most family members of addicts are only enablers. They think it's societies problem because it is a "disease". Let me just say this right here to shut those people up. AIDS is a disease too. Do we hold society responsible for the wellbeing of someone who KNOWINGLY has sex with someone who has AIDS and they contract it themselves? Hell no! Everyone would say, you knew the possible outcome now it's your problem. How come they can't seem to have that same attitude with a junkie? They WILLINGLY do this stuff KNOWING that it is highly addictive and very dangerous? Any addict can quit whenever they themselves want to. All they have to do is not do the drugs and fight through the sickness for 2 days max, or if they can't do that just show up at the ER and go into detox. Pretty simple stuff here.
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