Dear Dr. Drew: Drug Addiction is Not a Disease

Dr. Drew Pinski has had a lot of education; I have had none - well, none in his arena (a single course does not a doctor make). However, I was a practicing musician for years (we barely got beyond the "practicing"), I have been involved in the Arts my entire life, and I have known more than my fair share of drug users. Drug addiction is not a disease; drug addiction is a lifestyle choice.

Before you yawn or furrow your little brow, take a look at Sober House. A single viewing of any of the first three episodes proves what I am saying. That these people all have problems is unquestionable, but drug addiction is not their problem - it is their solution. Every, last one of them, time and again tonight, said things like, "He was so in his 'addiction'," and "He couldn't think straight because he was so bad in his 'addiction' today," and so on and so forth - and it's all just an excuse!

Every one of these people suffered some serious psychological trauma, some suffered physical trauma, and that trauma is the problem; they use drugs to handle those problems. I understand people become mentally and physically addicted to substances - that's proven - however, Dr. Drew has shot himself in the foot by televising his hippy-dippy, as-many-chances-as-you-"need" approach to rehabilitation because now everyone can see that it does not work.

We already know Slim Shifty or whatever his name is is about to take-off for three days because this was filmed in the summer and it was all over the tabloids. Early clips mentioned he'd had a heart attack, but that has yet to come up. Steven Adler was arrested on the show last night (also in the papers when it happened) and the last two whole episodes were about his selfishness and Dr. Drew's permissiveness allowed it. I mean, the guy even got the first two entire episodes dedicated to him; all the others surely must have realized the way to get more airtime was to go on and relapse while the cameras were on (even if they didn't consciously think that way - you know, because they were so deep in their addiction)! He's already been arrested again, gone through another rehab, and is now in yet another one - if he fails it, he's going to prison... where he most likely belongs. I take that back - Steven Adler belongs in a maximum security rehabilitation center for a year or two. Unfortunately, there are none.

At least we don't have to put-up with Jeff Conaway anymore!

Seriously though, for whom has Dr. Drew Pinski's approach worked? Jessica Sierra went to prison; Steven Adler's right behind her; Shifty-Eyed Binzer (or whatever) is on his third season and apparently has a heart attack somewhere down the line; Mary Carey left and the first thing she did was get boob implants; Jeff Conaway is back On Dope (though he can just stay there)... I mean, Dr. Drew is either fooling himself or he's a real jerk; either he needs to pull his head out of his ass and realize his approach to drug addiction as a disease only excuses these junkies' selfishness, or he already realizes this and he's just raking in the dough at their expense.

Whatever the case may be, drug addiction is not a disease, it's a diseased person's attempt at self-medication. And if you want to get sober, the only way to do it is to do it. Whose idea was it to put a Sober House in the middle of LA's club district, anyway!?

© C Harris Lynn, 2009