Addiction
There are many people who would say addiction is not a disease but a choice. Those people are looking at it in an object manner without even scrapping the surface of the true issue. Daniel Akst, a writer from New York’s Hudson Valley, wrote that, “Addiction is voluntary rather than compulsory” (Akst). While indeed the first act of engaging in drug use is voluntary the spiraling downward effect is caused by addiction taking over a person’s brain. Mr. Netherton implies in this statement, "Addiction is a crutch word that makes it easier for humans to dismiss their personal responsibility for choices" (Netherton). That addiction is a crutch. Addiction is a disease that changes how the brain sends, receives, and decodes messages within itself. Addiction
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To emphasize this issue look at the target market that cigarette companies are aiming at. If these companies get someone at the age of eighteen and make them dependent on smoking; they have lifelong customers. The most vulnerable age at which a person can become an addict is the teenage years. Mrs. Babbit furthers this claim in her book by stating, “As children grow, parents watch them deal with such problems as rejection on the playground, not getting a star on a spelling test (despite practicing from their mother's dictation the night before), not being chosen for a sports team, or hearing about someone they know being killed in a traffic accident” (Babbit). Rejection and failure are hard things to cope with at such a young age. Children do not understand how to deal with these concepts and become depressed or aggressive in order to have an outlet for their emotions. Parents never want to believe that their child is on drugs and would rather rationalize it as part of teenage angst or a rebellious stage. Once again this claim is support by Nikki Babbit’s book, “Parents and school personnel can overlook drug or alcohol abuse when they have a strong anti-drug education program in their home or school. The assumption is that this education will prevent abuse. That sounds logical, but it doesn't always work for all kids” (Babbit). Nowadays drugs are everywhere and children of every age want to be accepted and fit in. Unfortunately, sometimes they fall into the wrong crowd of people and get caught up in bad
To emphasize this issue look at the target market that cigarette companies are aiming at. If these companies get someone at the age of eighteen and make them dependent on smoking; they have lifelong customers. The most vulnerable age at which a person can become an addict is the teenage years. Mrs. Babbit furthers this claim in her book by stating, “As children grow, parents watch them deal with such problems as rejection on the playground, not getting a star on a spelling test (despite practicing from their mother's dictation the night before), not being chosen for a sports team, or hearing about someone they know being killed in a traffic accident” (Babbit). Rejection and failure are hard things to cope with at such a young age. Children do not understand how to deal with these concepts and become depressed or aggressive in order to have an outlet for their emotions. Parents never want to believe that their child is on drugs and would rather rationalize it as part of teenage angst or a rebellious stage. Once again this claim is support by Nikki Babbit’s book, “Parents and school personnel can overlook drug or alcohol abuse when they have a strong anti-drug education program in their home or school. The assumption is that this education will prevent abuse. That sounds logical, but it doesn't always work for all kids” (Babbit). Nowadays drugs are everywhere and children of every age want to be accepted and fit in. Unfortunately, sometimes they fall into the wrong crowd of people and get caught up in bad