Addicts

[daytripping]

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a f**king big television, Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin can openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of f**king fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the f**k you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing f**king junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, p*ssing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, f**ked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life . . . But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?

 

The thing about that paragraph is it's so true, if you have or do 90% of those things what gives you the right to tell someone else that they're ruining their life, to many that life is shyte.

 

Live and let live I say, I never could understand this obsession with living as long as you can, If someone wants to get blootered or wasted all the time then fair play I say, its that persons life to live as they choose.

[tup]

I never long for a drink at anytime and never drink before 9pm.

 

Alkies are escapists, they use drink as a crutch, it isn't alcohol that is the problem it's them, they use that drug because it's legal and available.

 

I love how you say you drink 8 tins of strong lager every night, then use the word 'they' when referring to alkies.

 

You dinna have to be sleeping in a shop doorway in a pile of your own pish to be an alkie.

[Nelly]

Surely it could be applied to anything then if that's how you get addicted to things, by 'havving enough of it'.

 

Have enough Tomato soup and you get addicted?

Have enough choclate and you get addicted?

 

Certain people get addicted perhaps but to generalise that as a rule for everyone is crazy. You'll get people who take heroin but aren't addicted. It's all about an idividual.

 

I'm pretty sure I've went out on nights out drank a ridiculous amount of alcohol and not got addicted.

 

Seriously, did you think I meant if you drank enough on a Saturday night you'd be an alkie by Sunday??

[Dynamo]

Seriously, did you think I meant if you drank enough on a Saturday night you'd be an alkie by Sunday??

 

Obviously not.

 

How much is 'enough' out of interest?

[tup]

Addicted to tomato soup?

 

Been there, used to have six tins of it every night when I was 13, cut with milk, so much so that my face turned orange and I had to go into rehabilitation, where they force fed me Campbell's Condensed until I was sick of the sight of the damned stuff.

 

Never touched a drop since.

[Dynamo]

Addicted to tomato soup?

 

Been there, used to have six tins of it every night when I was 13, cut with milk, so much so that my face turned orange and I had to go into rehabilitation, where they force fed me Campbell's Condensed until I was sick of the sight of the damned stuff.

 

Never touched a drop since.

 

A success story! Stay strong tup. Heinz b*stards.

[Ke1t]

Humans are a social species, they live in communities and do their best work while part of the community.

 

We should take care of our sick, our elderly, our young, our weak, our poor and our addicted.

 

Anyone who genuinely wants to harm, or through inaction allow harm to come to other members of the community is probably suffering from some kind of mental illness, and should be taken care of along with the addicts.

[tup]

A success story! Stay strong tup. Heinz b*stards.

 

I still attend the TSA, Tomato Soup Anonymous, every week, just to sit with like minded individuals for a while.

 

Every day's a battle, alkies make a beeline for the soup kitchen, I have to try my level best to steer clear of it, hence I could never become a homeless alkie, because I'd be back on the soup, probably harder than ever

[Nelly]

Obviously not.

 

How much is 'enough' out of interest?

 

absolutely nae idea min!

 

I still attend the TSA, Tomato Soup Anonymous, every week, just to sit with like minded individuals for a while.

 

Every day's a battle, alkies make a beeline for the soup kitchen, I have to try my level best to steer clear of it, hence I could never become a homeless alkie, because I'd be back on the soup, probably harder than ever

 

[Quanny]

In my opinian being a junkie is not a disease. At some point u decide to put that needle in ur arm. It only takes 1 hit to be addicted to that sh*t and it a phyisical addiction, as in your body wants the drug not like weed which is a mental, as in you want the feeling you get when on the drug. As for drink most people can go on holidays or a footbal trip abroad and do nothing but drink and when they come home sober up and get on with there lifes. I'm not saying you cant get addicted to it but i think in alot of cases something bad has happened to this person and they have turned to drink to get away from it and that is what needs to be addressed along with the drink issue. When i was a bit younger i smoked weed on a regular basis everyday in fact. But when it was time to grow up get a job and start to be grown up i thought i needed to stop it so i did. I always knew that if I touched the big H i was going to get in to something i would not be able to handle. I might be a bit niave but shouldn't everyone think that?

[tutankamun]

In my opinian being a junkie is not a disease. At some point u decide to put that needle in ur arm. It only takes 1 hit to be addicted to that sh*t and it a phyisical addiction, as in your body wants the drug not like weed which is a mental, as in you want the feeling you get when on the drug. As for drink most people can go on holidays or a footbal trip abroad and do nothing but drink and when they come home sober up and get on with there lifes. I'm not saying you cant get addicted to it but i think in alot of cases something bad has happened to this person and they have turned to drink to get away from it and that is what needs to be addressed along with the drink issue. When i was a bit younger i smoked weed on a regular basis everyday in fact. But when it was time to grow up get a job and start to be grown up i thought i needed to stop it so i did. I always knew that if I touched the big H i was going to get in to something i would not be able to handle. I might be a bit niave but shouldn't everyone think that?

 

[StandFree1982]

I still attend the TSA, Tomato Soup Anonymous, every week, just to sit with like minded individuals for a while.

 

Every day's a battle, alkies make a beeline for the soup kitchen, I have to try my level best to steer clear of it, hence I could never become a homeless alkie, because I'd be back on the soup, probably harder than ever

Do you keep a wee "for one" tin of Tomato Soup hidden away in a drawer, just incase you have the urge?

[tup]

Do you keep a wee "for one" tin of Tomato Soup hidden away in a drawer, just incase you have the urge?

 

No, I had to take the path of total abstinence. Otherwise I'd have turned completely orange.

 

Anyone mind Heinz Raiders soup?

 

That's what started me off.

[Monkey]

How many respectable drinkers do you know?

And how many respectable shooter-uppers do you know?

 

Our prisons are full of junkies, thats an undeniable fact.

 

Our prisons are full of people who committed crimes while drunk....

 

50% of prisoners were drunk at the time they committed the offence and 69% of homicides involve alcohol as a factor.

 

Alcohol is a much more costly drug to society than other types of drugs.

[perthshirered]

Our prisons are full of people who committed crimes while drunk....

 

50% of prisoners were drunk at the time they committed the offence and 69% of homicides involve alcohol as a factor.

 

Alcohol is a much more costly drug to society than other types of drugs.

 

Absolute pish.

Complete and utter pish.

Your figures are flawed to the extreme, in fact they are probably plucked out of thin air.

Absolute nonsense.

[Foster14]

Our prisons are full of people who committed crimes while drunk....

 

50% of prisoners were drunk at the time they committed the offence and 69% of homicides involve alcohol as a factor.

 

Alcohol is a much more costly drug to society than other types of drugs.

 

Homicides?! These American statistics or something?

[StandFree1982]

BBC link

 

 

I agree to an extent that Alcohol is a very destructive drug, however, it takes an awful lot of alcohol to get to this stage. If people were taking as much heroin, cocaine etc as they did and as frequent as alcohol then there would be a lot more dead junkies!

 

In my view, Alcohol in moderation is fine, doesnt harm anyone. Other drugs...one pill can kill (maybe I should trademark that quote!)

[Foster14]

 

The good old harm score...

 

Got a link to actually what makes up a harm score?

[StandFree1982]

The good old harm score...

 

Got a link to actually what makes up a harm score?

Nah, just the BBC link. I thought it was an interesting article even if I don't agree with it!!

[Foster14]

Nah, just the BBC link. I thought it was an interesting article even if I don't agree with it!!

 

I am intrigued to know if this study is done based on pro-rated usage for societal effects...

[Monkey]

Absolute pish.

Complete and utter pish.

Your figures are flawed to the extreme, in fact they are probably plucked out of thin air.

Absolute nonsense.

 

50% of prisoners were drunk at the time they committed the offence - Scottish prison survey 2009

 

69% of homicides involve alcohol as a factor. ( apologies old data which applied to all those accused of Homicide and taken from a lecture on Alcohol and offenders in Scotland by Dr Lesley Graham)

 

I have found more up to date data

 

Nearly half (49 per cent) of the total of 118 persons accused in homicide cases in 2009-10 were reported to have been drunk and/or under the influence of drugs at the time. Of these, 33 per cent (39) were drunk, 4 per cent (5) on drugs and 12 per cent (14) were both drunk and on drugs. This represents 75 per cent (58) of accused persons for which the drink/drug status was known. The drink/drug status of the accused was unknown for 35 per cent (41) of accused. Only 16 per cent (19) of accused were reported to have been neither drunk nor under the influence of drugs.

In 74 per cent of cases where the main accused was drunk and/or on drugs, the victim was also known to have been drunk and/or on drugs. Where the main motive for a homicide was a rage or fight, 56 per cent of the main accused for whom the drink/drug status was known were drunk and/or under the influence of drugs. In 73 per cent of these cases the victim was also drunk and/or on drugs at the time the homicide took place.

 

The most common reasons recorded for committing homicide in the 10 year period 2000-01 to 2009-10 were fight/quarrel and rage/fury, with around half of all victims killed in such circumstances. In 2009-10, this figure was 50 per cent (39). The next most common known motive amongst males was feud, faction rivalry which was the motive in 16 per cent (8) of male homicides in 2009-10.

 

The most common set of circumstances in which females become victims of homicide are in a dwelling, in a rage/fight with a partner. Location is less of a factor for male victims, whose killing more typically is a result of a rage/fight with an acquaintance. Three quarters (77 per cent) of all female victims in the period 2000-01 to 2009-10 were killed in dwellings, compared with 51 per cent of males.

 

Seven victims (9 per cent of all victims) were reported to have been killed in drug-related homicide cases in 2009-10. In this context, "drug-related" is defined as a homicide motivated by a need to obtain drugs or money for drugs, a homicide of a consumer or supplier of drugs or a homicide as a consequence of rivalry within the drugs trade/ between users and dealers. All seven victims were male. One of the homicides recorded in 2009-10 was reported to have had a homophobic motivation.

 

Statistical Release Crime and Justice Series: Homicide in Scotland, 2009-10

 

Homicides?! These American statistics or something?

 

Homicide is the term used in Scotland for illegal killings it includes murders though.

[tutankamun]

The good old harm score...

 

Got a link to actually what makes up a harm score?

 

"The nine categories in harm to self are drug-specific mortality, drug-related mortality, drug-specific damage, drug-related damage, dependence, drug-specific impairment of mental function, drug-related impairment of mental functioning, loss of tangibles, loss of relationships, and injury.

 

The harm to others categories are crime, environmental damage, family conflict, international damage, economic cost, and decline in community cohesion. The authors used a technique called multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA)."

 

It's not perfect but much better than what we currently have, where the Government confuses everyone by putting E's, LSD and mushies in the same classification as heroin and crack cocaine.

[The Boofon]

Now Amy Winehouse is dead, like many others whose unnecessary deaths have been retrospectively romanticised, at 27 years old. Whether this tragedy was preventable or not is now irrelevant. It is not preventable today. We have lost a beautiful and talented woman to this disease. Not all addicts have Amy

[Foster14]

50% of prisoners were drunk at the time they committed the offence - Scottish prison survey 2009

 

69% of homicides involve alcohol as a factor. ( apologies old data which applied to all those accused of Homicide and taken from a lecture on Alcohol and offenders in Scotland by Dr Lesley Graham)

 

I have found more up to date data

 

Interesting. Doesn't really state that alcohol or any other drug were deemed to be major influences in the decision to commit the act though. I guess that would only be an executive summary on the whole report, but it seems to neither draw any conclusions nor actually correlate alcohol/drug consumption to the motive behind the "homicides", other than in the drug related homicide cases. For example, are the drunken rage/fury and fight/quarrel homicide accused just general brawlers/rage-filled anyways, or does alcohol cause them to be like this?

[tutankamun]

Addiction isn't a disease though. A disease can be cured by intervention

 

Interesting that you used the word 'intervention'.

 

"An intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one, or often many, people (usually family and friends) to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem. The term intervention is most often used when the traumatic event involves addiction to drugs or other items. Intervention can also refer to the act of using a technique within a therapy session.

Interventions have been used to address serious personal problems, including, but not limited to, alcoholism, compulsive gambling, drug abuse, compulsive eating and other eating disorders, self-mutilation, tobacco smoking, "workaholism", and various types of poor personal health care. Interventions have also been conducted due to personal habits not as frequently considered seriously harmful, such as video game addiction, excessive computer use, and excessive television viewing."

[perthshirered]

50% of prisoners were drunk at the time they committed the offence - Scottish prison survey 2009

 

69% of homicides involve alcohol as a factor. ( apologies old data which applied to all those accused of Homicide and taken from a lecture on Alcohol and offenders in Scotland by Dr Lesley Graham)

 

I have found more up to date data

 

 

 

 

 

Statistical Release Crime and Justice Series: Homicide in Scotland, 2009-10

 

 

.

 

 

 

Homicide is the term used in Scotland for illegal killings it includes murders though.

 

 

You might as well suggest that 100% of all drink drivers were drunk while committing their crime though.

You clearly have a wee bit insight but you do realise that our prisons are not full of murderers and killers. They make up a miniscule percentage of the population.

I will take your "69% of homocides involve alcohol" but in all honesty - these offences are extremely rare.

 

As for prisoner surveys - you cannot take a single word of these seriously. One previous complaint received on a prisoners survey form was that they "couldnt get a decent pint".

[The Boofon]

Interesting that you used the word 'intervention'.

 

"An intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one, or often many, people (usually family and friends) to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem. The term intervention is most often used when the traumatic event involves addiction to drugs or other items. Intervention can also refer to the act of using a technique within a therapy session.

Interventions have been used to address serious personal problems, including, but not limited to, alcoholism, compulsive gambling, drug abuse, compulsive eating and other eating disorders, self-mutilation, tobacco smoking, "workaholism", and various types of poor personal health care. Interventions have also been conducted due to personal habits not as frequently considered seriously harmful, such as video game addiction, excessive computer use, and excessive television viewing."

 

There was no real thought to the use of the word though.

 

Point still stands that alcoholism / drug addiction is not a disease but a self inflicted condition that requires willpower and willpower alone to beat.

 

Smoking isn't a disease. Why would taking heroin be a disease.

 

The disease is what comes after taking your drugs or booze.

[tutankamun]

There was no real thought to the use of the word though.

 

Point still stands that alcoholism / drug addiction is not a disease but a self inflicted condition that requires willpower and willpower alone to beat.

 

Smoking isn't a disease. Why would taking heroin be a disease.

 

The disease is what comes after taking your drugs or booze.

 

The act of doing heroin, smoking or anything else is not a disease. When you are unable to stop doing something, that is the disease.

 

When you are compelled to do something (whether that be through physical dependancy or mental obsession), even though you know it is doing harm.

[HughMungus]

I'd much rather it was Winehouse writing the article about Brand.

 

Repulsive human being.

 

can't help agreeing with this!

 

I'd have to admit to being an alcoholic, though it may be a subjective term: I get wellied most evenings. I very much enjoy my drammies, they give me an enormous sense of well being, mirth, laughter and emancipation. Most if not all narcotics have a positive effect and that's why people indulge them. Over indulgence of course leads to negative things...Just like Heinz soup or sassidges wid. I'm always mindfull of our war-time prime minister Winnie the Church's famous quote "I've taken more out of alcohol than it has taken out of me"

Alcohol is a MUCH heavier narcotic than puff!!

 

Thing is tho.. Yesterday, I was reading this article in some medical journal...it was pointing out quite graphically and brutally what long term over use of alcohol was doing to our (my) body(ies)...wasn't just about the social aspect, or the huge financial burdens it imposes...this was biology maaan and ph*kkin frightning...the penny dropped today!

I will never ever fkn EVER read again....

[tutankamun]

I will never ever fkn EVER read again....