Yeah, i can appreciate that very much. I would even agree that agency is huge.

I just used to believe like the person i was arguing with and feel like it's important to share my renewed understanding that it's not that simple.

Seeing anything over simplified is a trigger for me, but particularly true on issues that I'm familiar with the complexities of.

But i agree with you wholeheartedly that agency needs to be a core part of the conversation.

For context, my partner is a substance abuse program nurse and her sibling is an NP provider for substance abuse treatment. I get to hear a lot on this subject.

I'm not at all an expert, I just know enough to not let others try to reduce it down to "just stop".

If only your victory lap was real and not imagined, this would be a great moment for you.

Have a nice day!

What's your source for your opinion? Are you a substance abuse expert?

My source is actual experts.

With all due respect to your inexperience, you are trying to oversimplify a complex topic.

This is a highly complex and nuanced topic.

For most addicts, they're not choosing drugs or the streets, they're under the sway of physical and mental dependency of addiction.

Although the analogy is imperfect, this is kind of like saying that abuse victims are choosing to get beaten. Technically they aren't making the choice to leave, but it's much more complex than that.

Source: Not only do I know former and current addicts, but my partner and her sibling both work in substance abuse.

There's no point responding to your points because your points are based on a flawed understanding of the problem.

We can't have a conversation productively here because of that flawed understanding.

You're rejecting all scientific understanding of the problem in favor of what you feel is true.

I'm not saying you'd agree with my perspective if you did understand btw, but we're not even talking on the same level here.

So good luck out there bud!

It's not that addicts don't want to get clean, it's that addiction is strong and difficult to beat.

Even if you reject the view that addiction is a disease, most addicts want and need help. It impacts everyone differently.

I know several people who have cleaned up and gone sober, as well as a few that haven't yet. Trust me when I say, addicts don't want to be addicted, they want normal, but addiction is too strong.

Go actually talk to addicts and I think you'll realize that you've oversimplified this too much.