Whats your addiction?

Let's try a word association; If I say "Addiction" what is the first thing that comes to mind?  I'm guessing there are lots of different kinds of drugs.  Cigarettes, alcohol, heroine, cocaine, meth, crack, acid, ecstasy, PCP, caffeine, marijuana, salvia, ketamine, peyote, steroids, inhalants, bath salts, barbiturates, benzodiazepines etc. If you are suburban middle class you might have though of different kinds of drugs: Amytal, Phenobarbital, Valium, Xanax, Ambien, Lunesta, Zoloft, Codeine, Robitussin, Roxanol, Methadose, Sublimaze, Oxycontin, Percocet, Darvocet, Demerol, Dexedrine, Adderall, Ritalin, Vicodin, Soma, Ativan, Fentora, Klonopin, Suboxone, and on and on.  Okay,  but the question I posed in the title is about your specific addiction, and you don't abuse drugs, does that mean you're off the hook? Hardly.

Scholars and scientists recognize many different types of addiction beyond mere substance abuse.  How  about gambling for instance?  There are other rather disturbing addictions, Kleptomania (compulsive stealing) and pyromania (compulsive fire setting) come to mind.  But what about self abuse like cutting yourself, pulling out your hair, popping your pimples, biting your nails, etc.  You might be addicted to sex, shopping, pornography, video games, exercising, or even pain seeking.  Virtually everything that Americans eat is addictive: soda, cheese, fat, salt, sugar, and certainly for me at least, goldfish crackers.

Our addiction to the internet is almost unbelievable there is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube, Tumbler, Reddit and so many new fads I can't even begin to keep up.  Moreover, how many of you would feel comfortable going out for even a few hours without your cell phone, how about you laptop or tablet.  Can you go a day without watching any TV if you really tried?  Don't even get me started on video games, World of Warcraft is very much like crack-cocaine.


"I used to have a drug problem, now I make enough money." - David Lee Roth

"Reality is just a crutch for people who can't handle drugs." - Robin Williams

There are somewhat less harmful addictions: you could be a political junkie or a sports fiend, you might be addicted to celebrity gossip or fashion.  If you are like Monica from the TV show Friends you are probably addicted to  cleaning.  You might be addicted to having children.  Maybe you can't help but being apathetic, critical, judgmental, or narcissistic.  Even reading can be addictive, though far from the worst thing on this list. As a country and a world it is easy to see that we are addicted to Oil, sloth, power and greed.  Addictions run the gamut from personal to social, from destructive to benign, from historic to modern; there is no easy way to classify addicts.  When we judge another for their vices, we are asking them to judge us too.

The question I need an answer to is this: Why do we incarcerate those of us who are addicted to substances but ignore the rest of our addictions?  Even among substance abusers we only seem to care about certain drugs, especially if it appears (rightly or wrongly) that they are used more frequently by minorities.  In what world can we justify decades long mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug addicts.  Addiction is itself defined as an action that we no longer have control over, so why would we punish people instead of helping them, or at least leaving them alone?  If we forced every politician who votes to penalize drug addicts to prove that they themselves were addiction free these laws would be overturned overnight.  I defy anyone to claim that they have no addictions.  The mere thought of that is outrageous.

Let he without addiction lock the first cell...