responsibility, children, it does not matter. nothing, and I mean nothing is going to get between an addict and a shot of dope. it's a disease.
It's very difficult to quit the hard drugs. What I can't get over is why people even start using in the first place. They've heard the horror stories, I'm sure. Same with cigarettes, although they're somewhat less harmful than cocaine/heroin. I'm sure all the celebrities who overdosed were addicted to some kind of drugs, but they made the choice to start using them in the first place. Still a tragedy, though.
People start smoking because they are kids before they are adults. The majority of new smokers are under the age of 18 when they start and many are much younger than that. When I was a young teen almost everybody in my social group smoked. We smoked just a few brands, Marlboro, Camel, Newports, Salems, those being the brands most heavily marketed in a way they'd appeal to children. The thing about cigarettes is that you can't just smoke one now and then to impress your friends. They're addicting. The nicotine in them sucks you in and before long you are smoking regularly. American public policy on tobacco was shameful right up until the late 90's. You don't put warning labels on a product and then stand by and watch ghouls sell that product to kids. But that's what we did for two generations.
I remember those candy cigarettes in the early to mid 90s (93-95ish). The corner stores would sell them and many of us kids would pretend we were smoking. Especially when it was cold outside. I also remember that camel character posted all over the city. I hear what your saying but would like to say as a young adult now, I never smoked in my life after seeing my father and other suffer but I sure as heck was close to doing it.
Calling addiction a disease is nothing more than an excuse. Our society is growing further and further away from personal responsibility and it's sad.
there's over 107 chemicals in the filter alone that make them more addicting than they already are. those tobacco companies have spent billions on research, they know how to hook people and keep them. I haven't had a cigarette in over 11 months now. it was rough but I pulled it off. and after 35 years of smoking them too. best move I ever made. not to mention it's a cashectomy too. great idea right? let's pay money to get the worst kind of sickness in the end. don't know what took me so long.
Stories like Hoffman's and the debate over addiction being a disease are reasons that make me question recent legalization of marijuana in some states.. This isn't coming from your stereotypical marijuana "hater", hell I am a fan of the stuff. I certainly believe marijuana is for the most part harmless and a lot of the criticism is silly. I also think the legalization and taxation would be very lucrative for the states, but the only thing that worries me is the gateway drug aspect. A lot of people are furiously against the "gateway" argument, but speaking from experience, it definitely was for myself and many of the people I know. I'll admit I have dabbled with harder drugs, and fortunately I never let it take over my life. Some of my friends haven't been so lucky. Maybe they have a disease, maybe they don't. But I honestly believe none of us would've made the jump to harder drugs if we hadn't started smoking pot first. It was enjoyable and frankly a little underwhelming compared to the reputation. It made myself and others conceive that other things weren't so scary as well and idea of using them - which never would've existed before, became not so far-fetched after introduction to marijuana. I'm not saying that individuals can't or won't just stop with marijuana but I certainly think about the long-term ramifications of making it more available and accepted.
it's definitely arguable Nagle, I too did harder drugs and started with pot, but if there was no such thing as pot growing up, I still would have probably done the other drugs too because that's what young people do, they let it loose. at least we did where I grew up. it would definitely open up jobs and revenue for this country in a huge way. why do alcohol and tobacco get the free pass? they both actually kill people, marijuana does not.
So tell me when I was addicted to nicotine, which is supposedly as addictive as heroin, was it a disease? Have I been cured of my disease by my own self control?
i'd have to say it indeed was a disease. you continued to smoke for however long you did even though you knew it was bad for you. I did the same thing. if that's not sick thinking I don't know what is. i'm glad you ditched that habit, hats off to your fortitude and strength. that stuff is not easy to quit.
It most certainly was not a disease. I needed to make the decision that I wasn't going to smoke anymore. You don't cure diseases by making responsible decisions.
I'm really interested in what's going to happen with the third and final hunger games movie now? It seemed as if he was going to play a big part in the next one.
They've actually made the third (and final) book into two movies. The first of the two is already in post-production, so Hoffman's death won't really affect things, but the last (fourth) movie is in the middle of filming, so that could obviously be greatly affected.
Well, I am back on board after a ridiculous one year ban from a moderator who was mad that I was maybe going to out him as a contributor on a rival message board. As for Hoffman, he likely didn't want to die and had a problem. He made a decision to start using drugs again. I didn't see anyone making him out to be a hero. I think some in the media celebrated his career. I did not see anyone indicate that Hoffman did a noble thing by killing himself by overdosing on heroin.
While I'm neither agreeing nor disagreeing with your stance, you can cure some forms of diseases by making responsible decisions. Some cannot be cured like cancer or alzheimer's or parkinson's, etc. But some can be cured or controlled such as hypertension, high blood pressure, some forms of diabetes, some forms of heart disease, gout, high cholesterol, bunch of things you can reduce or cure with drastic changes in diet, exercise, lifestyle, weight loss. Tommy Lasorda once said, when discussing Darryl Strawberry, "addiction is not a disease, it's a weakness". _
I agree with Lasorda. Let's look at your list Not a disease: hypertension high blood pressure gout high cholesterol actual disease: diabetes - no cure heart disease From what I've read it's debatable whether heart disease can be cured. Maybe I am wrong about not being able to cure a disease with responsible decisions. I haven't read anything from an actual doctor claiming to have a cure. If you have something I'd like to read it. Certainly diabetes and heart disease can be avoided by eating healthy but we're talking about a cure.
