ignorance is bliss

Someone posted a comment on Facebook about a tv documentary on the horrors of doing drugs and suggested that all kids who are thinking about experimenting with drugs should watch it. I started to post a (somewhat angry) reply and decided that that was not the right place to vent my anger. So I am doing it here.

I don't believe drug use (and addiction) is a choice. I also don't believe it's a disease. (So now I've probably offended both ends of the spectrum on this topic.) Calling it a "choice" implies that the person is just doing this to piss you off. That they could stop if they wanted to. Calling it a disease like cancer or Alzheimers implies that it strikes anyone at anytime and we have no control over it; it removes all responsibility from the person who is using. Neither of these descriptions fit my newfound experience.

I believe it is a symptom. It's like why a person with a cold coughs or a person with osteoporosis breaks bones easily. It is a symptom that there is something terribly wrong in your life; that you do not have healthy coping skills or outlets for your pain; that you feel you have no control over the world around you and so you change the only thing you think you can which is your mind and state of consciousness. It is also why slogans such as "Just say no" and tv shows that try to scare you straight don't work. The only way to get better is to do the work: Go to meetings, go to therapy, talk about your pain, seek the support of others who have gone through the same thing and made it to the other side.

And to my young Facebook friend, I hope that your life goes smoothly, that you remain forever ignorant about what it means to have an addict in your life.