As a member of the
Church of Reality I am in tune with always asking the Sacred Question of, "
Is it real?" This one question has led me to read, research and write about a subject dear to my own thoughts and the future of humanity: The abolition of the recovery group movement and its business arm, the addiction treatment industry.
So it comes as no surprise that while I do agree with the majority of Marc Perkel's well-researched and thought out opinions, his comment of "
Drug addiction is a medical problem -- not a criminal problem" leaves room for some clarification.
Since addiction is nothing more than ambivalence ("I want to quit
but I CAN'T") where the person eventually goes against their better judgement which
desires quitting, there is nothing medical about it. One can simply dig in, quit and choose to end that ambivalence once and for all. That also goes by a quainter term not used anymore: "
Resisting Temptation".
On the other hand, it does turn into something medical when the risks of that person's vice are
medical in nature (liver disease, lung cancer, AIDS, etc.). Likewise, there has never been any proven and tested human evidence that there is some sort of pathology that forces one to move themselves in a certain way to place that intoxicant into their own body. It's simply a healthy appetite for pleasure that is simply there.
Given that, isn't it rather dumb to assume that the desire for pleasure is a disorder? Afetr all, that's only what "
cravings" really are. If that's the case then every single organism on this planet is afflicted. Thus, the evolution of the 12-Step ideology into the Codependency movement.
But I digress.
If one is looking for a
medical cure for that desire it would be in the form of a lobotomy. Remembering the high times is healthy simply because memory itself is a sign of health. What's also healthy is knowing that when one gets into trouble far too often as a result of their
vice they have the choice
AT ALL TIMES to either continue or to quit. The tragic irony is that all therapy based upon
12-Step dogma takes that choice off of the table.
When one quits then they no longer put themselves into a precarious position of intoxication where their worst own judgement takes over. I guarantee that recidivist DUI's, for example, would be reduced just purely for the sake that they're held responsible for
ALL of their actions instead of claiming that a
mythological disease made themselves do something stupid. To send them into a
pro-addiction religious cult only serves to place public safety at risk as the option to drink, ephemistically referred to as "
relapse", is kept as they turn into
broken down cult followers. It's better to either
have them quit or just not drive at all. And thus the ending of the truly
criminal part of drug addiction: Doing really dumb and harmful things that pose a risk to society against one's own better judgement that says to
KNOCK IT OFF! Again, Perkel's advice for responsible drug use is sound on the surface. However, when it comes down to the ambivalence of addiction, he's left cold. But then, since people can learn and not to commit the same errors again, I'm sure his ideas will evolve as well.