Quote:
Originally Posted by Paloma
Lol what? An addiction is termed an illness because it precisely is a state of poor health.
|
No. You could be addicted to anything, but that doesn't mean that it would put you in a poor state of health, either mental or physical. When speaking specifically of a drug addiction, it is sometimes the case that the drug use puts you in a poor state of health (i.e. the drug use GIVES you an illness), but that is a side-effect of the drug use. Side-effects aren't causal, they are resultant. Addiction is something that could possibly LEAD to an illness, but not an illness in and of itself.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Paloma
People who are addicted to drugs suffer physiological symptoms as well as emotional and mental, as habitual drug use damages everything from your levels of serotonin and/or dopamine, your respiratory system, your kidneys, and your heart. This isn't a one time usage thing, an addiction includes all of these things and it is not possible to be in "good health" being addicted to drugs. Drug addicts use excessive amounts to achieve a high, overpowering the aforementioned pleasure centers.
|
Everything you're saying here corresponds directly to what I said above. All of these illnesses (damage to the body and mind) are a RESULT of drug use. Someone does not have to have an illness (i.e. be in a poor state of health) to start using drugs. But once they lose their willpower, and let the drugs take control, they start using more and more, which inturn damages their body and puts them in a poor state of health. If they had enough willpower to use drugs responsibly (or preferably not at all), then they would not become addicted, and not put themselves in a poor state of health.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Paloma
And as you previously, so graciously said, a lack of "willpower" is a cause, would that not also be a part of poor health?
|
I don't consider a lack of willpower to be a poor state of health, either mental or physical. It may be a mental shortcoming, but that in and of iteself does not relegate someone to being in a poor state of health.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Paloma
Ever hear of something called depression?
|
Yes, I have.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Paloma
I'd like to know in what world would someone consider the possibility that a drug addict could still be in a "state of good health". Marked signs of drug addicts usually include visible markers of POOR HEALTH.
|
Like I said numerous times, the poor health (illness) is a possible SIDE-EFFECT of drug use (addiction). Something cannot be both the cause and effect. Addiction is the cause. Illness is the possible effect.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Paloma
Yes, they are. And yes, it is.
|
No, they are not mutually exclusive. One is possible without the other. Someone can have an illness without being addicted to drugs. And someone can be addicted to drugs without becoming ill from it.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Paloma
See here
Individuals who suffer from addiction often have one or more accompanying medical issues, including lung and cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, and mental disorders. Imaging scans, chest X-rays, and blood tests show the damaging effects of drug abuse throughout the body. For example, tests show that tobacco smoke causes cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, blood, lungs, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix.19 In addition, some drugs of abuse, such as inhalants, are toxic to nerve cells and may damage or destroy them either in the brain or the peripheral nervous system.
|
This agrees completely with everything that I've said.