KID GLOVES HURT CELEB 'VICTIMS'

May 1, 2001 -- THIS nation has taken a mind-bending detour on the road
between prison and the drug-rehabilitation center: We've turned into a
nation of enablers. It comes as little surprise to again see the mercurial
smile and bloodshot eyes of Robert Downey Jr. peering with striking
intensity from his prematurely puffy face.

Not long ago, an actor like Downey would face public condemnation for
"throwing it all away" - his career, his youth, his health, his fortune -
to indulge his illegal recreations.

Today, the consensus is far more gentle. But just as hurtful.

It is fashionable not to think of Robert Downey, Darryl Strawberry and "The
West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin as criminals. Nor even as men determined to
muck up the kinds of charmed lives for which many of us would give a year's
salary to experience for just one day.

No. They are victims.

Robert Downey Jr. suffers from a disease, according to the mindset of the
addiction community. And, as such, he has been absolved of responsibility,
just as a person stricken with cancer can't be blamed for the tumors
plaguing his body.

Downey is now off the "Ally McBeal" set and may be locked up. Again. But I
believe it is just a matter of months - maybe less - before he's back on
TV. Then back on drugs.

We tie ourselves in knots finding ways to excuse behavior in the rich and
famous that would result in an ordinary junkie being thrown in jail without
a fan club.

Kick the addiction, and the star is celebrated.

Succumb to "demons," as the drug lust is called, and a guy who can throw a
ball or read a script is heralded as a man waging a heroic battle.

No wonder I know folks in Hollywood who do their best networking in the
rehab center.

All this empathy ensures one thing: relapses.

It also sends out a message, from Hollywood to high school: Drugs are OK.
With enough money and star power, you can buy your way out of trouble.

Take Darryl Strawberry. The former slugger walked away from rehab for a
weekend crack binge, then later told the world and his heartsick family
that his "disease" includes not just cancer and a weakness for crack, but a
powerful addiction to sex with strange women. Some sickness.

Last week, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence bestowed
an award on the producers of the NBC hit "The West Wing" for the show's
sensitive portrayal of a recovering addict.

The show's creator, Aaron Sorkin, was not at the ceremony. The recovering
cocaine addict was arrested early last month for possession of psychedelic
mushrooms.

Accepting the award, actor John Spencer referred to Sorkin as "a friend who
has a bad cancer."

Drug addiction is not cancer. Former addicts will tell you the user is not
a passive victim, but a con man who will do or say whatever it takes to get
a fix.

It is wrong to persecute drug users. But the pendulum has swung too far.

Making someone feel good about his addiction will not stop him from getting
high.

It just enables him to do it again.