DRUG ADDICTS SOME TAKE ADVANTAGE WITHOUT WANTING HELP

Kenneth A. Germanson's July 30 letter regarding drug addicts being
able to overcome their addictions if given half a chance sounds and
looks good on paper ("We owe fellow humans a chance to overcome"). I
do know of three people who are now clean and sober thanks to family,
love and treatment - and the will to want to be free of their drug or
alcohol addictions.

But what about the majority who lie back on their addictions, making
them "the victims"? Food stamps, welfare, disability checks. I've seen
more than just a few literally smile and say, "Why should we quit when
our habit is being paid for by the taxpayers?"

These people have got to want to help themselves, but in the meantime,
we are supporting them and their habits and/or addictions, making it
even harder for them to want to quit. Give them half a chance? We're
giving them everything they need to live on, and in their minds, why
should they stop?

We are giving these addicts more than half a chance already; they just
aren't seeing it yet. And if they are, they're laughing in our faces.

Conni Doll

Greenfield