Turd Furguson

Which side of the fence do you sit on in this issue?


Personally I cant accept that its a disease. Measles are a disease, Chicken pox is a disease, Diabetes is a disease. Those are all things that can afflict us no matter what we do.

If I CHOOSE not to take a drink or do drugs, I wont have the above "afflictions"

I believe they are behavioral choices followed by weakness of character.

BelichickFan

It's not a disease. Just like when I overeat it's not a disease. It's my choice.

Turd Furguson

You mean I currently DONT have "Stufffritosinyourmouth-itis"?

wistahpatsfan

You might, but it's not a disease. A disease is Aids, Leukemia, polio, etc. Alcoholism is no more a disease than is not paying your bills and filing bankruptcy. My father drank too much, realized it, and then stopped cold turkey. Lots of people I know demonstrated the "symptoms" of addiction in the 80's, including probably myself in my early 20's, but just changed their bahavior and moved on.

drpatriot

Let me start off by saying that I have little sympathy for alcoholics and drug addicts who lose everything. It was their choice to start and that was the worst decision they will ever make. However, it bothers me that people think that you can just quit alcohol or drugs like it is nothing. Though I believe strength of will does have a lot to do with cutting yourself off from alcohol or drugs, it is much easier said than done. Both alcohol and drugs are PHYSICALLY ADDICTING chemicals that your body will crave after their being introduced to the system, and some drugs are worse than others.

Let's compare drugs to another addicting substance: caffeine. Anyone who drinks coffee knows what it is like to wake up in the morning and NEED their coffee. Until they have their coffee, they are generally groggy, grumpy and unable to function. This is because they crave the caffeine. If it is suggested that they don't have their coffee, they say, "Are you crazy?" The only difference between having caffeine and taking drugs is that there are no bad side effects of coffee, other than needing the coffee and perhaps some bad breath. Though drugs are a stupid mistake that people make, quitting should not be treated like it's as easy as a cup of coffee. No pun intended, of course.

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"Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein." - Joe Theismann

PatsWickedPissah

I think that there's scientific evidence that some brains have weaknesses towards certain chemicals - be they drugs or alcohol, so it's a genetic predisposition, possibly related to ethnic groups although liberals won't let that be said. Fortunately, there's a well known history of people overcoming such deficiencies and successfully dealing with the problems. We're NOT all created equal and some of us have a tougher set of cards to deal with in life. Life is unfair and unequal. The universe could not care less. People have to deal with it. Those with better support systems of family, friends or whatever have better odds of dealing with the demons. But 1st they need to realize they have a problem.

I'm thankful that even though I'm a Mick, I don't have the all too prevalent Irish booze jones.

sdaniels7114

A person who eats too many egg sandwiches for breakfast will likely end up with heart disease, and while many will blame said person for his disease nobody denies that it is a disease.

A person who does too much Coke or Heroin will blow out the pleasure center of his brain to the point that no kind of pleasure of any kind can be registered. The Pats winning the Superbowl, winning the lottery, having sex with Heidi Klum or even doing the drug that got him there won't work. The addict's brain is forever damaged. 50 years on the straight and narrow doesn't fix that.

Imagine being forced to go through life without being able to be happy again, its like having to be a Colts fan for heaven's sake.

BelichickFan

I think your terminology is misguiding you there. Yes, it is called "Heart Disease" but I don't think anyone thinks of Heart Disease as a disease like Cancer that you get (usually) through no fault of your own.

DarrylS

I'm on the disease side, primarily because it effects my family and I, I know if I drink I have a hard time stopping...my father died from booze and cigarettes, my siblings cannot drink either...so my choice is I do not drink...in my younger days I was in denial and caused problems for myself and others..not in terms of criminal or illegal activity, but in terms of lost work and lost time..for the grace of god I never hit anyone while driving under the influence.

I recognized it and stopped it, initially it was difficult going to weddings etc. but have realized over time that I am better off without it, a great joy of mine is when I go to a function is to watch people descend into idiocy under the influence...I am very comfortable being a non drinker now.

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"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

wistahpatsfan

I agree in the genetic pre-disposition to addiction. I think we can all agree that there is a difference between addiction and disease. We treat both, but do so very differently.