I am 100% done with people saying that addiction happens by accident. Here are the facts: Recreational drinking does not normally cause alcoholism, unless a person drinks heavily in short periods of time. Normally, it takes repeated, steady alcohol consumption to cause alcoholism. This kind of heavy drinking is a choice. Hard drugs are easier to become addicted to, but more often than not, just like with nicotine in cigarettes, a person will not become addicted after the first use. They must decide to continue taking the drug. In the United States, about 20.2 million adults suffer from substance abuse disorder. Of those 20.2 million, only 7.9 million also suffered from mental illness. That is less than 50% of known drug users that have a mental …show more content…
(I'll cite this, since I'm sure most people won't believe me. http://www.samhsa.gov/disorders) 40.3 million Americans suffer from severe mental illness, and only 7.9 million of those people end up having a substance abuse disorder. So having SEVERE mental illness may put you at a higher risk for impulsive tendencies, but it does not put you at a higher risk for drug use. If a person decides to take a drug, or drink alcohol, knowing that they have a greater risk that they may become addicted, then they are at fault for becoming addicted. Drug use is not an accident and it is not something I take lightly. It is terrible that some people feel the need to self medicate with opiates. those people need help and I want to give it to them, and whether or not we can agree on if it was their fault in the first place is irrelevant. Those 7.9 million people whose mental illness drove them to such lengths deserve help and sympathy. Those who don't deserve my sympathy are the 80% of all US criminals who are addicts. It is difficult to discern if drugs cause criminal tendencies, or if criminal tendencies lead to drug use. Unfortunately, it seems as if both of these are possible in terms of drug use and crime.