READER CHALLENGES - ADDICTION AS DISEASE

I must take issue with Steve Wildsmith's article titled "New Year's
hard on addicts" that appeared in the Dec. 29 edition of The Daily
Times. The main issue in which Mr. Wildsmith and I disagree is the
equating of an addiction to a disease.

Drug addiction is not a disease. It is an unfortunate choice. My
grandfather died from a disease: heart disease. There was nothing he
could have done to prevent it. He was genetically predisposed to this
illness from birth and his biological composition was such that he
eventually died from it.

Many individuals have overcome their drug addiction as Mr. Wildsmith
is doing. They realize that they have a problem and are making a
conscious decision to remedy this problem. They are, in effect,
choosing to break the cycle. My grandfather did not have this option.
There was no choice he could have made to stop having heart disease.

When one labels drug addiction a disease, as Mr. Wildsmith has done,
and then builds on this fallacy by arguing "we can't control our need
to get high and the things we do to get there," we remove the element
of personal responsibility from the equation. To say that you cannot
control your physical actions that result in your getting high is
insane. No one puts a gun to your head and forces you to get high. The
same illogical arguments have been used to cast the drunk driver as a
person out of his own control. He is somehow not responsible for his
actions that occur following his decision to become drunk. No one
finds themselves accidentally drunk behind the wheel of an automobile.

Even though one may try to control himself, Mr. Wildsmith believes
that "eventually, the disease of addiction reasserts itself, and
we're back to our old habits with even greater ferocity than before."
Mr. Wildsmith seems to suggest that although we may try to control our
addictions, through no fault of our own, we find ourselves back to our
old habits as if along for the ride. While you may not control your
body's chemical desire for drugs once you have chosen to introduce
them into your system, you do control your physical actions that
result in your acquisition of said drugs. No one accidentally finds
himself on a street corner buying illegal drugs.

We must take control of our own actions. We must take responsibility
for the decisions we make and quit labeling every character flaw a
disease. We are obese because we choose to eat; not because we have a
disease. We are alcoholics because we choose to drink; not because we
have a disease. We are killing ourselves with tobacco because we
choose to smoke; not because we have a disease. To suggest otherwise
would be ridiculous! We must teach our children to take responsibility
for their selves: to stand tall and say, "I have made the mistake and
now I must take responsibility for the actions I have chosen and do
what needs to be done to correct the situation."

Thank you for allowing me to opine.

Sincerely,

Lester Phinney,

Maryville, TN