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Alex · 07-13-2007, 05:05 PM

Hard for me to say much useful on addiction. I have never smoked, never done any "illicit" drug more than once (technically tried LSD twice but the first dose was apparently a dud; to make up for it I have never taken the lightest of samplings of pot). Rarely drink caffeine and have an alcoholic drink maybe six times a year.

I can have sex any time I want it but it hardly interferes with my life and I have a shopping anti-addiction. I do like the gambling but again have never done it in a way that is at all dangerous to my lifestyle.

I'm fat but don't think I would qualify as having an eating disorder.

The internet is probably the closest thing but it is also my social environment and occupation and I have no problem experiencing life away from it either.

I will admit to simultaneously understanding that addiction is not a voluntary condition while feeling that becoming addicted is. So while I view the former as a medical condition I view the latter as a personal failure which renders me less than entirely sympathetic.

I do think that while it may be a medical condition, the move over the last 30 years to treat it on a disease model is not good. I consider AA to be a fraud (see that episode of Bull**** to understand my point of view).

I do not think addiction is sufficient cause for criminalization, nor do I consider it a public health issue. All drugs should be legal to any adults who want them and anybody who ends up in a bad relationship with those drugs has my sympathy and I hope they can kick the habit but they did choose (with very few exceptions) to get there, even if choosing to get back from there is not so easy. The societal evils of prohibition are far worse than anything that would result from decriminalization.

07-13-2007, 05:05 PM	#4
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Hard for me to say much useful on addiction. I have never smoked, never done any "illicit" drug more than once (technically tried LSD twice but the first dose was apparently a dud; to make up for it I have never taken the lightest of samplings of pot). Rarely drink caffeine and have an alcoholic drink maybe six times a year. I can have sex any time I want it but it hardly interferes with my life and I have a shopping anti-addiction. I do like the gambling but again have never done it in a way that is at all dangerous to my lifestyle. I'm fat but don't think I would qualify as having an eating disorder. The internet is probably the closest thing but it is also my social environment and occupation and I have no problem experiencing life away from it either. I will admit to simultaneously understanding that addiction is not a voluntary condition while feeling that becoming addicted is. So while I view the former as a medical condition I view the latter as a personal failure which renders me less than entirely sympathetic. I do think that while it may be a medical condition, the move over the last 30 years to treat it on a disease model is not good. I consider AA to be a fraud (see that episode of Bull**** to understand my point of view). I do not think addiction is sufficient cause for criminalization, nor do I consider it a public health issue. All drugs should be legal to any adults who want them and anybody who ends up in a bad relationship with those drugs has my sympathy and I hope they can kick the habit but they did choose (with very few exceptions) to get there, even if choosing to get back from there is not so easy. The societal evils of prohibition are far worse than anything that would result from decriminalization.
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