I'm not bitter, even after the muggings and robberies I lived through. I even went to the trial of a guy who broke into my studio so I could tap him on the shoulder in court and tell him that he didn't have to live that way, that he had a choice to get his life together, that it was up to him and him only.
Maybe the difference between us is that I know from personal experience what it takes to kick a drug addiction. Making it easier and more socially acceptable to be an addict is not the answer. Let's make it easier for girls and boys to grow up to be prostitutes and drug addicts!
If you ask little kids what they want to be when they grow up, do any of them say they want to grow up to be hookers? How about drug addicts, what six year old replies that they want to grow up to be sticking a needle in their arm three times a day?
I used to think that decriminalization was the way to go, you take the profit out of drug sales, fewer people die on street corners, you control the quality, etc. all the usual reasons and justifications. But having recovered from my own addiction, I realize that it's not the answer. I'm thankful every day I walk into a supermarket with hard liquor in it that alcohol was not my drug of choice, that I have to go way out of my way to pass what was my drug of choice because it's illegal. I've known plenty of recovering addicts who do have to walk past pushers every day because of where they live and I can tell you it far more difficult for them to stay straight. I have the utmost empathy for their plight. I know that it takes enormous determination for them not to start using again.
The hardest addictions to kick are those that are legal, like cigarettes, alcohol and gambling. This is a very timely topic for me, because a very good friend of mine called to say her mother died of lung cancer this morning. If I'm bitter, I'm bitter that cigarettes are legal, cheap and easy for children to get. The last thing we need is easier heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs. |
