I'll share a personal story regarding a drug addict.

My son, at the time he was in his early 20's became addicted to pain killers.  He staged a "break in" at our home, but it was pretty obvious that it wasn't a "real" break in.  He was too stupid to realize how it was easily picked up (I won't go into details).  The main target... pills and money.

He later got picked up after being questioned by police investigators regarding the "break in" because he had some pills on him.  He had enough of the pills on him that he was charged with "possession with intent to distribute".  The thing is though, he never intended to "distribute" any of his stash.  They were all for his own use.

We let him go through the "normal" legal process (public defender) up until it came to the point where he was facing serious prison time.  At that point we finally hired an attorney and got him into what was known as "drug court".  He had to go through rehab, do community service and long story short, he has been drug-free ever since.

Remember, when this happened he was in his early 20's (I believe 23).  Just recently he celebrated his 33rd birthday, has a beautiful wife, a good job and is an upstanding member of society.  He still to this day will not even take a drink of alcohol and does not take any pills.  He's an active member of AA and NA (Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous).

My point about this is, you cant lump drug addicts into one category.

Another something to think about.  You can never give up on a person.  As Ronald Reagan said, "there is purpose and worth to each and every life".

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