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Originally Posted by lookout123
drug use and other crimes are obviously a good way to lift yourself out of poverty. sorry, i don't buy that one. it's just another excuse to explain away a decision that should be pinned squarely on one's own weakness.
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Probably the biggest factor pushing teens into drug use is peer pressure. If you are a 13 year old kid living on the streets or in the projects, what sort of peer group do you think that you're likely to have? How do you think you are going to feel about your chances in life when all around you see despair, homelessness, unemployment or underemlpoyment? Addiction is a disease. Get out of the middle ages. Yes, a person can make the choice to treat his disease of addiction by going into rehab, attending 12-step meetings, etc. The choice is theirs whether they fight it or give up. We need to give those kids hope and a belief that there is something positive they can do with their lives. Telling a kid that he is "less than" and commanding him to pull himself up by his own bootstraps when he's living in poverty is a thoughtless and heartless response.