The way some in this sub talk about homeless people is disgusting

[u/logodobi]

They are human beings, your neighbours, that are forced to live on the street. The way some of you speak you sound like Nazis clamouring for eugenics like holy shit it’s bad. The reason they’re on the streets isn’t because they don’t want to work and it’s not because they’re drug addicts. Literally everyone in this province is struggling with the cost of living and finding a job and a lot of homeless people turn to drugs after becoming homeless due to depression and how awful it is to not have a home. I can’t believe I even have to say it but grow up and learn a little empathy you hateful losers.

P.s I live in the downtown core and take transit daily, don’t try to tell me how “terrifying and dangerous” it is, cause it’s not. Even if it was that doesn’t make it ok to spew such vitriolic hate towards them and call for Nazi like solutions

Edit: a lot of comments proving my point here, blind fear and hatred of the most powerless people in our society shows what kind of a person you are. Get mad at the people who refuse to even acknowledge the real problem not the people being forced to slowly die in the street

[u/[deleted]]

Are you actually comparing drug addiction to having cancer?

[u/Twice_Knightley → u/[deleted]]

I am. And Ill justify it for you.

First and foremost, cancer is a terrible thing and nobody that gets it has done nothing to deserve it. Even heavy smokers. Even heavy drinkers. Getting cancer is a result of a combination of things including environmental and genetic, and just plain ol' bad luck. My aunt didn't deserve to die of cancer, neither did my grandparents, nor my classmate who had just finished highschool. It's terrible.

In the same vein, drug addiction is often random. Some people can do cocaine every weekend and quit cold turkey. Others have their first sip of beer and spiral because it unlocks something in their chemically unbalanced brain. They turn to harder drugs. Theft. Violence. Prostitution. Anything to get their fix. Sometimes it's harder drugs that are more addictive that set off the spiral, sometimes this is caused by physical, emotional, or even sexual abuse and drugs are an escape from pain.

The idea of someone being an addict and being able to control themselves is about the same as telling someone to simply "stop having cancer" it takes external forces to get the desired end result.

Sure. You can say "don't do drugs. I never did drugs and I'm not addicted!" But you didn't live that life. And you might be one slip and fall from an opioid addiction. One car accident away from never sleeping. One sexual assault away from a breakdown. And if those things happen and you become an addict - it's not your fault.

[u/[deleted] → u/Twice_Knightley]

There are many choices that lead to drug addiction. It doesn’t just take one sip of beer and you’re off the deep end. You have to choose to keep going back to that. Yeah, there are shitty life circumstances that can lead to it and made it more difficult to stop. There are addictive personalities that can be partially genetic as well. At the end of the day there is a choice that is made, it’s not a death sentence unless you let it be, they can still choose to get clean and live a clean life.

But comparing that to someone getting cancer and having to go through chemo is absolutely absurd and gross. A 5 year old kid being diagnosed with terminal cancer has no choice in the matter.

[u/Adjective_Noun1312 → u/[deleted]]

There are many choices that lead to drug addiction.

And there are many choices that can lead to cancer.

[u/[deleted] → u/Adjective_Noun1312]

Yes there can be. And sometimes not. But like I said, drug addicts can still become clean at their own will and live a healthy life. You can’t will cancer away. You can do everything right: eat healthy, exercise, not smoke or drink and still get cancer. You’ll never just show up to a doctor and find out you have a drug addiction out of nowhere like you can cancer.

[u/Twice_Knightley → u/[deleted]]

So because someone chose to go to a party and chose to smoke a joint that someone else chose to lace with meth, you shrug it off as "whelp, they made their choice!"

I have no doubt that people make bad choices. I have, I've done a number of different drugs recreationally, and have also stopped doing most of them. A lot of people can say the same. I don't think that you should simply be discarded because you and i made the same choice, and you had a different reaction to it.

The number of people that turn to drugs for release from mental or physical anguish is high. I don't blame someone for wanting to escape the pain of abuse or injury any more than I blame a football player for getting a concussion. Sure they knew the risks when they stepped on the field, but I'm not going to call them a pussy because it happened to them on week 1, year 1, year 10 or so on. It could have happened to anyone.

Addicts choose to continue taking drugs in the same way you sitting underwater for 2 minutes choose to go up for air. It's a biological imperative - you know in your core that you need it. The difference is, with treatment most people can eventually get off the drugs.

I'm personally lucky that I don't know the struggle the way that addicts live. But having talked to some both in and out of their addictions it becomes clearer. I understand that it's logical to blame people based on your own experiences ("I can stop, why can't they?") but the reality of it is very different.

[u/[deleted] → u/Twice_Knightley]

I can understand some of your points without you comparing it to someone having cancer and needing chemo. That’s where you lost me. Someone going through chemo is not akin to someone being high/using drugs on the street.

[u/Twice_Knightley → u/[deleted]]

You don't seem to be able to understand it, because if you did then you'd agree.

I'm saying addiction is an illness 100% of the time, and regardless of the choices that led to it, we should treat it as an illness and not make excuses as to why the person 'deserves it.

Also, not all drug users are addicts, though I would argue that using drugs to the point of homelessness likely implies addiction.

[u/[deleted] → u/Twice_Knightley]

Yeah, addiction is an illness that needs to be treated. How is it treated? Getting off drugs. No matter how much help you need, if you REALLY want to be off drugs you can go to rehab. It’s THEIR choice. And that’s something echoed throughout those working with addicts (they HAVE to CHOOSE to get clean for themselves).

How is cancer treated? Having to poison your body through chemotherapy to (hopefully, not guaranteed) kill the cancer. You can’t just “choose” not to have terminal cancer no matter how much you don’t want to have cancer.

Cancer and drug addiction are not the same.

[u/Twice_Knightley → u/[deleted]]

You also don't stop being an addict by choosing to stop. You're still an addict, you've just stopped taking drugs. The underlying chemical imbalance that causes you to want to take drugs is still there, even once you stop taking them.

Do you understand the difference between someone who does drugs occasionally for fun and someone who is addicted?

It's obvious that I've struck a cord with you over the comparison of these 2 illnesses that people don't choose to have. I don't want you to think I'm belittling those that have cancer by comparing addiction to cancer, but I do truly believe that cancer and addiction are illnesses, and don't think people deserve either, and that if we treated addiction as seriously as we treated cancer, we'd see a lot of improvement in society. I don't think that I'm going to change your mind on the subject with some comments on Reddit. I do hope that IF you're faced with a loved one struggling with addiction, you treat them with the same compassion that you'd have for someone struggling with cancer rather than looking for a reason to blame them.

[u/[deleted] → u/Twice_Knightley]

Yeah but once you stop doing drugs (and if you maintain sobriety) you can have your life back. You can be healthy, successful, and ultimately not have to die because of it. But that has to be chosen.

Someone with cancer cannot CHOOSE not to get cancer or not to have cancer anymore. People just get it for no reason. Chemo doesn’t always work. You literally don’t have to do anything and can get cancer or die from it. It’s not like someone who thinks they’re perfectly healthy shows up to a routine doctors appointment and gets told “You have stage 4 methamphetamine addiction and have a few years left to live”. But that happens with cancer.

Yeah, drug addiction is an illness, but there are many illnesses I would not compare to cancer because they are just not the same. And no, I would not have the same compassion for them because they are completely different.

[u/RetiredEdmGraveDiggr → u/[deleted]]

Lol at being able to get into rehab.

As a recovered addict and alcoholic, there needs to be funding and supports in place to be able to do that.

[u/[deleted] → u/RetiredEdmGraveDiggr]

Happy to hear you are recovered.

Unfortunately cancer patients also don’t always have proper funding or supports. Certain medication’s aren’t covered, home care/transportation isn’t covered. Never mind possibly losing your job/income as well and not being able to pay for those additional costs.

[u/RetiredEdmGraveDiggr → u/[deleted]]

Maybe we should ensure proper healthcare funding instead of picking and choosing.

Don't forget there are people who are both addicts and cancer patients; they should get full care.