Rog,
I'm not going to disagree with you too much - but please expand...
>Surely if we have children and love them, nurture them, teach them and be a
good example to them we have nothing to fear.
I must dispute that - addiction due to bad parenting? It might be a factor -
but surely not the only factor.
>The quoted statistics are not necessarily a predictor of what will happen
to our children
Agreed
>Every drug addict I have ever seen (which is lots) lacked or perceived
he/she lacked the love of mother (usually rarely sometimes the single
father) during some part of childhood, and/or loss of the other parent
and/or suffered some major stress (e.g. war in Vietnam).
I want to disagree with what has to be a generalisation - unfortunately it
rings true from the addicts I've spoken to (usually talking doesn't go that
route though) - Is that a fault in parenting or a fault in the addicts
perception?
> Drug addicts are not caused by pushers and the trying of drugs
Availability surely must be a factor for those susceptible to addiction -
mustn't it?
> - addiction arises when the taker finds something in drugs (a warm,
protected, cared for, yes loved feeling) that is lacking or missed in early
life.
But increased availability surely means that those at risk of addiction will
be more likely to start.
Increased use by others - surely leads to increased peer pressure. Or is
this not a factor?
> Try reading Thomas de Quincey's confessions of an English opium eater
OK - read it many years ago - but I'll read it again.
>but please, doctors, stop peddling this 'scary' crap about the
inevitability of lots of our kids becoming addicts simply because of the
easy availability of drugs on our streets.
Who said "simply" - but are you denying that availability is a factor.
Suicide rates are highest for those who have the means available (Doctors,
pharmacists, farmers) - the reduced availability of OTC paracetamol has
reduced the suicide rate.
Regards
Jeff
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