Can we please stop devaluing the lives of addicts and just treat them with proven science?

[antigone382]

16. Point taken on parallels; but I think you are perpetuating the very stigma I'm talking about.

Perhaps unintentionally. Addiction is demonstrably a chronic neurological disease. "Willpower" is not a factor, and the idea that addicts are hopeless (which wasn't exactly what you expressed, but which I think finds some support in the sentiment you expressed) is erroneous. The fact is that addiction relapse rates are pretty much the same as for any other chronic condition with a behavioral component, including hypertension, diabetes, or asthma. The fact is that good, medical-science based interventions are not available for millions of people in the United States--and the number of people who need treatment is currently in the millions.

It isn't idealism to suggest that adequate, modern treatments work. France saw an 80% reduction in heroin overdose death with the introduction of a medical model to addiction treatment. But we are stuck in the stone ages, and in a mindset that prefers to judge people--ultimately condemning many to death--rather than offer them the medical support they need.