Welfare Solution #389

[snow]

On Tue, 26 Aug 1997, Alex Le Heux wrote:
> I suppose you believe that a drug addict has no one to blame but 
> himself, and that he should take _all_ of the blame. I don't. They 
> certainly deserve some credit for the mess they're in, but not 
> entirely. Bad luck has a lot to do with it as well. Just like getting 
> blown off a cliff by the wind. You shouldn't have been there, you 
> should have been strong enough not be blown off, etc....

	No one chooses to have the wind blow. If a junkie can 
demonstrate how he became hooked by force, or by accident (i.e. "someone
slipped something in my drink over and over"/medical usage leading to 
addiction), then I will not blame them as much. I know what it is like to 
kick an addiction, and I can just imagine how much worse Herion, Coke, and 
Speed are, but hey, it's your life, you own it, do what you have to. 

> Also, it being the druggie's fault or not, treating him as an outcast 
> is not going to solve the problem. It'll only make it worse. For him, 
> and for the rest of us.

	It may not solve _his/her_ problem, but it may also make a couple 
of younger kids think twice before shooting up. 

> What works much better is treating his addiction more like a disease. 

	Assuming that they _want_ to get treated. 

> and a dime. Also the mortality rate under the junkies is very low, 
> although I suspect you don't see that as a good thing.

	If they hold down a job, pay their own way, I could care less, and 
don't mind a bit. 

	I don't want to support them.

> The 'drug problem' as it exists in most places in this world is the 
> result of the mindboggeling numbers of people living in tiny spaces. 

	Crap. There are kids in small towns all across the USA doing Coke, 
Speed, Pot, and LSD. They aren't "escaping a painful reality", they are 
just fucking bored and looking for a little fun. 

Petro, Christopher C.
snow at smoke.suba.com