when I have had a shitty week I walk to the nearest bar and stumble back a few hours later wreaking of nachos and sin. But I'd like to think if I can handle my "habit" then other older and presumably more mature adults should be able to do it, too.
People have different perceptions of what level "handling their habit" is and therein lies the problem. Everyone's gonna draw the line in a different place and for the most part, not be able to be objective about it. Alcoholics don't start out killing a bottle of rum or two every day just like smokers don't start out smoking a pack a day.
People build up a tolerance over time and so they don't notice the grip of addiction worsening. It's "the boiling frog effect" - the idea that you if you drop a frog into a bowl of hot water it will jump out, but if you put it into cold water that slowly gets hotter, it won't notice and get boiled to death.
I find it hard to understand when people (in general) can't sympathize with addiction and make ignorant blanket statements. Essentially, it's a disease. A small, easy to make mistake quickly led to something out of their control. People don't "choose" to be addicts. Do you condemn every smoker that dies of lung disease or emphysema? Do you condemn every coffee drinker who gets heart problems from caffeine overload? Those are addictions too.
It's like saying you don't feel bad for people with STD's who may have been caught up in the heat of passion and not had caution. Except it's easier for anyone to relate to that.
I just don't think there's anything to gain by not having compassion. Everyone has a vice, in one way or another. We should try and help people with addictions, as much as possible. Even when they are stubborn and may not want to be helped. I feel the same way about people with poor diets. Fast food is an addiction too. In most cases, it's simply a lack of education about what people are really doing to themselves. And people don't tend to want to hear the truth, but don't we have a responsibility to tell them? Isn't it selfish to not share knowledge to try and exert a positive influence?
Also, the whole thing about you being able to handle your habit or vice probably just points to the fact that you don't suffer from extraneous issues that complicate whatever that vice may be. Many addicts suffer from emotional damage or trauma, for all kinds of reasons that may not be their own fault. We don't always know what they are, but if we did it might be easier for people to have some compassion.
