First learn to spell "poll." You're an idiot.
As for addiction, it's a disease... AND it's a choice. Everyone's body chemistry predisposes them to be susceptible or not susceptible to addiction, but taking that first drink and continuing to drink is a choice, and no matter how much your body tells you otherwise, there's always a chance that you can break that. I think there are only a few relatively rare instances where their body chemistry is such that there is really no choice in the matter once they take that first hit/drag/drink/whatever.
For instance, growing up, me and two of my friends were very close. We all smoked and tried to quit. Two of us quit, but one of us never could. He tried continuously over the course of a few years, but couldn't. He smoked the same amount as my other friend (to be fair, I never smoked that much to begin with) - even smoked the same kind of cigarette - and we all had each other to help get us to quit, but he absolutely was incapable of it. After he got cancer, he started drinking and became addicted to that too. I know you're saying, "Well, if I got cancer and thought my life might end, I might start drinking and never stop too," but you have to realize that he drank enough to kill his liver in roughly three years - from 23 - 26. Do you know how hard it is to kill your liver in 3 years from drinking? It's not easy. I know guys that go until they're in their late 40's or even longer while drinking basically every day of their lives. You have to spend nearly every day drunk to do that.
I've never been like that. I've drank profusely when I was in college (like everyone else), but I don't drink much any more (at 26). I smoked as much as a pack a day for three months straight, and I almost never smoke now (only if I'm really drunk AND someone offers me a cigarette; I don't ask for them). More than those two, I smoked quite a bit of pot for a few semesters of college straight. I didn't smoke as much as some of my friends (4 - 7 a day for them, 1 - 2 for me), but I still smoked quite a bit. My last semester of college I decided to hunker down and get good grades, so I rarely smoked (maybe once every two weeks), and after college I quit entirely. Then I was with a girl for a year (last year) that smoked at least once a day, and I smoked with her. We're not together any more, and I no longer have a desire for it.
As for addiction, it's a disease... AND it's a choice. Everyone's body chemistry predisposes them to be susceptible or not susceptible to addiction, but taking that first drink and continuing to drink is a choice, and no matter how much your body tells you otherwise, there's always a chance that you can break that. I think there are only a few relatively rare instances where their body chemistry is such that there is really no choice in the matter once they take that first hit/drag/drink/whatever.
For instance, growing up, me and two of my friends were very close. We all smoked and tried to quit. Two of us quit, but one of us never could. He tried continuously over the course of a few years, but couldn't. He smoked the same amount as my other friend (to be fair, I never smoked that much to begin with) - even smoked the same kind of cigarette - and we all had each other to help get us to quit, but he absolutely was incapable of it. After he got cancer, he started drinking and became addicted to that too. I know you're saying, "Well, if I got cancer and thought my life might end, I might start drinking and never stop too," but you have to realize that he drank enough to kill his liver in roughly three years - from 23 - 26. Do you know how hard it is to kill your liver in 3 years from drinking? It's not easy. I know guys that go until they're in their late 40's or even longer while drinking basically every day of their lives. You have to spend nearly every day drunk to do that.
I've never been like that. I've drank profusely when I was in college (like everyone else), but I don't drink much any more (at 26). I smoked as much as a pack a day for three months straight, and I almost never smoke now (only if I'm really drunk AND someone offers me a cigarette; I don't ask for them). More than those two, I smoked quite a bit of pot for a few semesters of college straight. I didn't smoke as much as some of my friends (4 - 7 a day for them, 1 - 2 for me), but I still smoked quite a bit. My last semester of college I decided to hunker down and get good grades, so I rarely smoked (maybe once every two weeks), and after college I quit entirely. Then I was with a girl for a year (last year) that smoked at least once a day, and I smoked with her. We're not together any more, and I no longer have a desire for it.
