Last night, Whitney Houston died. While not confirmed, the vast majority of speculation is that her death had something to do with an overdose or her addiction problems.
I've seen so many comments and jokes, either on Facebook or Twitter or even on progressive sites, that either explicitly say therefore her death was therefore more her fault, or insinuate such. We all saw the comments regarding Michael Jackson, we definitely saw the comments and jokes with Amy Winehouse, and we will continue to see them with Whitney Houston. I don't want to post them here, but I think everyone can identify with this. We've seen them with others that struggle with addiction as well, such as Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears.
Regardless if the drugs are legal or illegal, it seems that some people, regardless of their political orientation, see addiction to drugs as a choice.
Just to clear a few things up....
Addiction is not a choice. Addiction is a disease and illness. People that are addicted to drugs and alcohol struggle with something that non-addicts at times can barely imagine. Addiction takes over lives, and it's not anyone's job or right to judge people with this illness.
People that die of overdoses do not "deserve it." That statement, which I fortunately have not personally seen following Whitney Houston's death but saw non-stop after Amy Winehouse's death, is an asinine, unfair, rude, and immature comment.
Our society looks at addicts as criminals because of our failed "war on drugs." The "war on drugs" treats drug users as criminals, not people with health problems. There is a reason that in countries where drug users can seek help without fear of incarceration, such as Portugal, drug abuse is down. Way down. Every time we lock up someone with an addiction we deny them the ability to seek help, and deny others the security of seeking help without fear of punishment.
Every time we don't correct comments or jokes that look at addiction in a non-serious way, we are part of the problem.