Fighting One Problem, Embracing Another

Reuters had this article that I skimmed over:

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An hour after speaking at a Crystal Meth Anonymous meeting about the benefits of sobriety to dozens of other recovering addicts, Charlie was alone in his Chelsea apartment, logged onto the Web site Adam4Adam.com.

He cruised the site’s profiles of muscular gay men who want to meet for sex while high on methamphetamine, and found his match: a 50-year-old man from Manhattan’s Upper East Side who liked to “slam” the drug, or inject it directly into the bloodstream.

“I blew two-and-a-half years of sobriety in a few hours,” said Charlie, who did not want to give his last name. “All I had to do was log on, and it just so happens that it was right there.”

In New York, thousands of gay men use the Web sites Adam4Adam.com, Manhunt.net and Craigslist.org as an easy way to meet for sex marathons at underground orgies while high on the addictive stimulant.

Similar sites exists in other cities. The phenomenon — while affecting only a small part of the gay community — underscores the spread of meth from the U.S. rural areas where it gained an early foothold.

Now this story was not one I was going to comment on, but I thought better (or perhaps worse of it.) Why exactly is Charlie trying to stop using Meth?

We understand from years of research that part of what causes addiction is genetic. Alcoholism runs in some families, doesn’t run in others. Could we say that some people are simply born to be substance abusers, whether it’s Meth, Alcohol, Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin, it really doesn’t matter.

The question is then who is society to change them? Doesn’t the backsliding of Charlie prove that he’s a born substance abuser? Is his real problem meth or is it that he’s denying who he is? Many people say that you can get clean, but can you? Don’t you think all those alcoholics, potheads, and meth-heads who go straight spend their whole life long for another drink, another puff, and another injection of it. Even AA says, you’re always an alcoholic. It just urges people to not act out on who they are. And so many people don’t do it. They fall of the bandwagon because they were born to be substance abusers.

Shouldn’t people be who they were born to be? Let every primal urge run wild no matter what society says and just have society readjust. Alcoholics and Substance abusers of all type should be able to come out, become more open about their feelings. It’s society that forces people to live lies and pretend their someone their not. Only by encouraging people to come out and be who they are, will we have a just society.

Is the above really the answer for dealing with substance abuse? Does it really represent the message of hope to abusers? No. But it’s the message the gay community sends out every year to those who want to try to change. Those who fail in their personal fight against homosexuality are used as proof that it doesn’t work, while those who do succeed become the subject of constant ridicule.

The most dangerous lie is that behavior is in-born. It relieves of responsibility, but when our behavior leads us down a tortured path, it offers no hope of escape. Such is the way of the Homosexual movement and it’s opposition to anyone who might want out.