Sould we blame the addicts?

I do not feel sorry for drug addicts. They choose to become drug addicts. In my country drug addicts are sent for rehabilation. I noticed it is always the pampered spoiled kids who become drug addicts.

I believe that it's a little bit of both. Society and the media bombard us with advertisements CONSTANTLY so we wind up eating things we could've done without,drinking which we all know leads to nothing but sorrow and troubles in the end. But we also have to have some will power as well and learn when just to say NO.

You shouldn't feel guilty at all. Person become
addicts if they can't control their addictions
to some illegal drugs. It's their fault they
choose their life that way.

I believe addictions of any kind are by choice, at least at first... If you have to hide what you're doing, chances are, it's a wrong thing to do... I do know that there's always an exceptions, babies being born to a crack-addict mother is one of them... People without self control or even self esteem tend to be more likely to become addicts of some kind... I don't feel sorry for them at all... I do have compassion but not for the people who "choose" to be the way they are... If you were captured or abducted by a stranger & drugs were forced on you while you were tied down & as a result of this going on for 7 years, then yes, I can understand & we all should feel for the person who had to go through that kind of experience...

Addiction is a disease. Yes, humans make choices that get them addicted, but once they cross that line, they are victims of a pernicious disease. We can love the addicts and hate their addiction. You should feel sorry for anyone who is hurting, but you should not condone their self-destructive behaviors. Tough love is still love.

Hi ya Scarrlet

I'm sorry to say that I don't feel sorry for these people because we all have a choice in life and I choose not to be drug addict or to abuse alcohol. There is help out there for those people and it is their choice to take it or not.

No you shouldn't feel sorry for them. They chose to get into that crap. Just like smokers and alcoholics. They chose to pick it up and try it. I smoked for over 10 years, and quitting was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but I made the decision to pick up that first one I ever smoked, so I can't blame anyone but myself for the negative health effects or for all the money I wasted buying them. I was a heavy drinker for a long time as well. I have given that up for the most part as well. I still have a few beers with a buddy of mine a couple of times per month, but I leave the hard stuff alone, and I don't drink very many beers when I do drink. There again, I can't blame anyone but myself for the hangovers I used to get, or all the money I wasted on booze either. I don't spend that much on it these days. There were times when I would go out partying all the time that I would spend more on beer and stuff in one weekend than I spend in a month or two now.
It is sad that people get addicted to such things. It is also sad that it isn't always the addicts who suffer the most. It is often the wife, kids, or other family members who suffer the most. I feel sorry for the families of these people. The addicts do it to themselves, but the families are drug into it by the actions of the addict. They are not willing participants in the lifestyle that drugs and alcohol can lead to. It is the family members you should feel sorry for the most.
I do believe that addicts can change their lives for the better with the right motivations and the right help. There is hope for them, but they have got to want the change enough to suffer through it. Anyone who has ever quit smoking can testify to that. I haven't smoked in well over two years, but I still get cravings. I could very easily drive down to the store and buy a pack and start all over again. I could very easily walk across the street and "bum" a cigarette from at least four or five of my neighbors right now. It would be as easy as putting on my shoes and walking across the road. The reason I don't do it is that I remember how hard it was to quit, and I realize how much easier life is when you can breathe. I ride my bicycle almost daily now, and have started lifting weights again as well, trying to get rid of some body fat. I am not really overweight by much, but I could stand to turn a little fat into muscle or at least to loose some fat in the mid-section. I know that if I started back smoking, I couldn't exercise as effectively, so I would likely become even more overweight. I also see what smoking has done to friends and relatives, and realize that it was slowly doing the same thing to me when I smoked, so I don't do it, nor to I want to be around too many other people who smoke for very long. It stinks, quite frankly, but I didn't realize how bad it makes you smell until I quit smoking myself.

Just because someone has chosen to try a substance doesn't mean they have chosen to be addicted to it. Yes, they may be foolish for trying it, but I've never heard of anyone who has consciously chosen to be an addict.

And let's remember that this isn't just about drugs. As the opening post says, this could apply to food. Gambling is another option.

The question itself seems to be fundamentally flawed as it asks whether we should 'blame the addicts.' Blame them for what? What business is it of mine if someone has an addiction as long as they don't harm anyone else in the process of their addiction?

And, yes, I know I'm splitting hairs here and that right now you're thinking: "Well should we blame them for the effect their addiction has on society.?" Again, fundamentally, no we shouldn't. Sure, blame the person if they actually CHOSE to be addicted, but don't blame a person for trying something and then unexpectedly becoming addicted.

Addicts are sick. They need help, not blame.

i think it is their surroundings and society that made them that way...people mess with one another and make people a certain way. child molesters, abusers, hateful people inflict their hate on others and mar others with scars and problems.
parents mess with their kids a lot. teachers are not much help.
and social workers are not helping the situation...i dont really know why people hire social workers or what they actually do because they are not helping all these messed up people in society...
we need a volunteer psychiatrist to go into homeless shelters and help bums with their problems before giving them work...

My veiw of life progression is that we are born with innocent hearts and pure souls...however as we progress through life's experiences the process of jading our minds begins through societies "expectations" of who we are and who they belive we should be,and pressures of the world in general. I know people who have endured years of abuse from their own families. I also know people who have and will never know what it means to need, much less want for anything, along with people who's lives played out somewhere between the situations I just described. It is my belief, at a certain point in one's life one has the ability to exercise free will. It is at that point when one instictively knows what is and what is not good for them and should act in their own best interest....sounds ideal and easy...but it is not. People develope addictions more times than not to escape from situations they are going through. I have no "guilty" feelings about anyone becoming an addict...I DO have empathy for them. Ultimately, no one can "make" anyone into an addict unless they are diabolic and drug them without their knowledge. That being said, I feel horrible for anyone who thinks paying for a drug out weighs paying for a roof over their heads...but that is the reality. Niether me or my husband has ever failed to help someone asking for money for food...not by giving money but purchasing a good meal. I completely understand your feeling badly for these people...you have a good heart...