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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Suma who wrote (8270)	1/3/2006 3:23:26 PM
From: epicure	Respond to of 541375

I think that's why we see so many people with learning disabilities in prison. I have a son with learning disabilities, and his rages (around the age of 3) when he found out he was not communicating effectively, were profound and disturbing. Luckily, we have the resources to take him around for FIVE years, until we got an appropriate diagnosis, and I fought for him every day of his life, so that he could have as normal a life as possible. I hope I mentioned, that from last year to this one he jumped as much as 7 or 8 years in his achievements. But that's all due to my bullheadedness, his strong little spirit and brilliant brain, and the resources of our family. I cannot judge people, like my son, who grow up in pain, and have no one in their corner. It's hard for me to say "self medication is wrong". What I want for them, and what I want for all people in pain, is relief that is granted with the least restrictive and least harmful procedures and drugs- but this is not a perfect world, and people who we do not help, as a society, will fall by the wayside. It's bad enough that people feel forced to self-medicate- to make them criminals because of this seems to me the height of inhumanity.

To: Suma who wrote (8270)	1/4/2006 12:59:00 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541375

Suma....In our experience with addicts...first, they are almost always smart. Some have a more formal family background, some do not. Addiction has blinders on as to color of skin, creed, religion, or much of anything else. Way back in the dark ages, I thought that only "scummy" people even took drugs, or really overdid alcohol. That doesn't have anything to do with the situation at all. What we were told over the years, is that the addiction process is still undergoing study....Our experience started in the early 1980's. We knew nothing. At all. We came to learn that the current belief is that genetics does have something to do with the situation. About 1 in every 10 will become addicted to "something".... Ultimately, NO ONE can help the person, unless he/she wants to be helped, BUT that is the illness of it. Most often people who are addicted, don't see that they need help. There is a definite difference between using occasionally, and "using" because of an addiction. Some people become addicted with a few uses of the substance, sometimes it takes a very long time. Alcohol generally takes a long time to become an addictive substance...BUT not always. In one way, it's like an allergy. One can take a drug, or eat a food for years, and never have a problem. Then BAM...! One day, the allergy hits, and one is very, very sick! The Docs and the social workers, and the drug therapists, etc know that in one sense, drugs and alcohol are the same problem, but in other ways, they are different. Alcohol generally takes longer to become addicted. MANY of the newer drugs take only a few days to a few weeks of use to become addicted. Because of our experiences, we are in touch with many folks who have gone through recovery, some several times, and offer any help we can. Sometimes, the folks just need someone to talk to, and to bounce things off of.... We have met some wonderful people, and some of those folks are making their program work...day by day.