Pubdate: Wed,  2 May 2001
Source: Record-Courier (NV)
Copyright: 2001, tahoe.com
Contact:  http://www.mapinc.org/media/1353
Website: http://www.tahoe.com/recordcourier/index.html
Author: Barbara Menefee Chylak
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n725/a04.html

DRUGS ARE A CHOICE

To the Editor: 

In response to the uninformed Ft. Walton Beach, Florida letter (are we
surprised)! 

It will all stop, Mr. Aldridge, when law enforcement gets tough. If you
educated yourself on the current statistics regarding drug offender
arrests, jail and prison time awarded, you might have thought twice
before you penned such a naive response. 

Just because someone is sentenced to jail or prison it should not be
assumed the offender was justly punished for the crime. 

The increasing law enforcement budgets are the result of the corruption
and increasing waste of monies in the system. Neither you nor anyone
else can 'reform' a drug abuser! Drug abusers must reform themselves.
This goes for an alcoholic also. I grew up experiencing what a drug
abuser can dish out. (I did not choose to follow in his footsteps - a
direct result of exercising my free will). They do not reform just
because you want them to. 

Drug addition is a self-inflected condition - it is not a disease! Drug
addiction is the direct result of a 'choice' (the reason is irrelevant)
made by a very weak person fully exercising their 'free will.' Addiction
is a chosen lifestyle. A drug addict cannot take their addiction to a
doctor and request a shot or a pill to cure them, as one would with most
diseases. 

Hence, you cannot cure an addict like you could cure a disease, which is
an involuntary condition. We all have 'free will.' We are all
responsible for the decisions we make...drug abusers are very selfish
individuals. Their decision to take drugs not only destroys them; it
also destroys all of those close to them. 

So, Mr. Aldridge, you should not be so quick to defend the insensitive
drug abuser...maybe the next time your local drug abuser (alcohol or any
other  drug) needs money to support their chosen habit, you may become a
victim. 

Additionally, drinking oneself into oblivion is not against the law;
however, the common resulting actions are against the law, i.e.,
driving, beating spouses, children, domestic partners, verbal abuse,
etc. 

Wake up and take a long look at the ugly reality of addiction to any
drug. Prisons must be turned back into a place of punishment...sending
drug offenders to our current 'country clubs' does not discourage
offenders. Just take a look at repeat offenders, such as Mr. Strawberry
and Mr. Downey. 

Barbara Menefee Chylak, Minden
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