[Zippy]

Originally Posted by Jamietwo

actually humanity has a long long history of drugs use in various forms and for long periods drugs now considered bad have been acceptable in some cultures and still are.

I find your comments about addicts being pathetic and useless to society a bit hurtful. actually many addicts hold responsible jobs and also have contributed a great deal to society, including many great philosophers artists, politicians etc.

although i respect your right to have an opinion I'd like to gently encourage you to consider that addicts are individuals who all have different stories. I'll give you an example. A close friend of mine who was generally considered to be one of the most thoughtful kind and considerate people and loved by many was an addict, he fought hard against his problems and managed to achieve considerable lengths of time clean but had various issues , which i wont go into out of respect for his privacy . sadly he relapsed and died, but the world was a better place because of his life, addict or not.

addicts can include all kinds of people from sweet old ladies to children who all have their own stories and reasons for the situation they end up in. The stereotype of dangerous young criminals is just a part of the story.

I wouldn't normally respond so emphatically to someone elses opinion which after all is not really any of my business, but i just wanted to ask you to be a little more open minded.

Lets not be glamourising drug addicts now. An addict is a slave to their addiction. Thats not a position of strength no matter how you wanna twist it. It's a position of weakness. Hardcore addicts become all consumed by their addiction, its all they can think about from one day to the next.

It's all very well you bringing sweet old ladies and innocent children into the mix but these are far more likely to be abused children or medical drug addictions. I'm referring to adults who choose to take drugs for recreational use. Lets be clear about that otherwise we're covering a huge minefield of issues.