PIOUS JUDGMENT NOT NEEDED BY ADDICTS

With all due respect to Mr. Liikanen and his response to "Researcher
condemns Harper's war on drugs" [Letters, September 25-October 2],
drug addiction is not a black-or-white issue and has nothing
whatsoever to do with an individual's "moral fibre". I have yet to
talk with someone struggling with an addiction, or a loved one's
addiction, who tells me that they or their loved one has always wanted
to be an addict! Granted, an individual makes the initial choice to
experiment with or use drugs, but that does not make them immoral.
Individuals become addicted to drugs under a variety of circumstances,
and black-or-white thinking is not helpful in assisting the addicts or
their loved ones in dealing with this issue. I have yet to meet an
addict who was not already existing in shame and guilt without the
narrow-minded judgement of their fellow citizens added to the mix.

Deborah English

Vancouver