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How about a little bit of recognition that this adults choice to do Heroin resulted in his premature death and hurt his family. The "junkie" comment was crude,

by gjolund 10y ago

How about a little bit of recognition that this adults choice to do Heroin resulted in his premature death and hurt his family. The "junkie" comment was crude, but true. The mother wanted to blame god, she should just blame her son instead. That requires a little more introspection though.

andrei_says_ 10y ago
May I suggest that you look up the rat park experiment and maybe look into Gabor Mate's research into addiction. Addiction does not really happen by choice -- or no one would drink or smoke or eat sugar etc. Refusing to look at the many factors and complex causality behind addiction is a part of the disastrous, unscientific and inhumane narrative of the war on drugs.
- trungaczne 10y ago
  Addiction doesn't happen by choice but rehabilitation does. Not all ailments are the same. There's room for human intervention in addiction, both from oneself and their family. We can't always be blaming God for our misery.
- gjolund 10y ago
  I have spent a lot of time around junkies, addiction may not be a choice, refusing to acknowledge your problem and seeking help is. Junkies are the kings of selfish behavior, and they have little to no regard for how their actions affect their loved ones. Lies and the eventual grief of their loss are their legacy. I have buried enough friends to know this as a fact.
  - andrei_says_ 10y ago
    Using the derogatory term "Junkie", judging another's actions as "selfish behavior", deciding that you know better than others about what is a choice for them -- somehow I don't see an intention to understand. If you look at someone struggling with addiction and all you see is these labels and judgements, how can you see the person? How can you gain a new understanding about something you believe you already know? I am sorry you've lost close ones and I hear your pain. I imagine you already suspect that it's not as simple as someone being a selfish junkie".
bufordsharkley 10y ago
For what it's worth, here's an amazing interview in which Harris Wittels details how he fell from a casual recreational drug user into a heroin addict, taken a few months before his overdose.[0] The logic is nightmarish, the whole story tragic. I miss Harris. [0] http://nerdist.com/you-made-it-weird-236-harris-wittels-returns/ http://nerdist.com/you-made-it-weird-236-harris-wittels-retu...

by gjolund 10y ago

andrei_says_ 10y ago

May I suggest that you look up the rat park experiment and maybe look into Gabor Mate's research into addiction. Addiction does not really happen by choice -- or no one would drink or smoke or eat sugar etc. Refusing to look at the many factors and complex causality behind addiction is a part of the disastrous, unscientific and inhumane narrative of the war on drugs.

trungaczne 10y ago
Addiction doesn't happen by choice but rehabilitation does. Not all ailments are the same. There's room for human intervention in addiction, both from oneself and their family. We can't always be blaming God for our misery.
gjolund 10y ago
I have spent a lot of time around junkies, addiction may not be a choice, refusing to acknowledge your problem and seeking help is. Junkies are the kings of selfish behavior, and they have little to no regard for how their actions affect their loved ones. Lies and the eventual grief of their loss are their legacy. I have buried enough friends to know this as a fact.
- andrei_says_ 10y ago
  Using the derogatory term "Junkie", judging another's actions as "selfish behavior", deciding that you know better than others about what is a choice for them -- somehow I don't see an intention to understand. If you look at someone struggling with addiction and all you see is these labels and judgements, how can you see the person? How can you gain a new understanding about something you believe you already know? I am sorry you've lost close ones and I hear your pain. I imagine you already suspect that it's not as simple as someone being a selfish junkie".

bufordsharkley 10y ago

For what it's worth, here's an amazing interview in which Harris Wittels details how he fell from a casual recreational drug user into a heroin addict, taken a few months before his overdose.[0] The logic is nightmarish, the whole story tragic. I miss Harris. [0] http://nerdist.com/you-made-it-weird-236-harris-wittels-returns/ http://nerdist.com/you-made-it-weird-236-harris-wittels-retu...