Cuphandle “I have come to the conclusion that the whole world today revolves around drugs and the use of!”

Strange, I have a different conclusion, maybe I get out and mix with people more.

Bronwyn “Eating MacDonald's and other such 'non-food' on a regular basis is just as damaging to your health as regular drug usage. It's also just as big a drain on the public purse.”

Maybe you could cite where McDonalds is proven to contain no nutritional benefit
Further, I have yet to see anyone being dragged fighting and screaming into a divvy-van or flat lining because they O/D’d on a quarter pounder

As for the “big drain on the public purse”, is piffling rubbish since the “public purse” has nothing to do with how a private individual disperses their private discretionary income.

Fact is anyone can become addicted, defined as “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.”, to anything.

Even posting on OLO, chat rooms, speed dating, aussie rules football (now that is a serious one)

Examinator “Nigella Lawson” now she could become my addiction.

Regarding the “trauma” upon cessation, that is a critical test.

Emotional addiction is not the same as physical addiction.

Forget trying to address those two areas in the same statement. Emotional addiction of any sort is merely a character issue, physical addiction is the serious compulsion which manifests the addict with serious medical / physical issues if they try to cease their addiction.

Substance abuse is not about maccas, internet, porn or gambling, it is about ingested or absorbed “substances” which the addict is, to some extent, debilitated if they are not supplied.

My own observation of people who have succumbed to excessive (and addicted) substance abuse, distinct from the rare/occasional users is

They are seeking to find something or compensate for what they think they lack within themselves, often unconsciously, like the adolescent who is trying to “find their place” in the environment of their life or they have an overgrown sense of personal entitlement which allows them to ignore their responsibility to those who love them.

To fix those problems the individual needs to inspect themselves, their motives and their responsibilities

Anyone with any doubts should read the steps to recovery on the AA twelve steps.

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

You can substitute any other "Substance" for “alcohol” in the above.

Ultimately, the onus is upon the individual to make their own way.

So I guess at their next Macca's soiree, Col will be recommending the AA 12 Steps to his mate Porky, as the best approach to dealing with Porky Jr's alcohol problems.

After reading Col's 12 steps for recovery from substance abuse, I considered what a 12 step program would be for atheists, Buddhists, or any who do not believe in a a big daddy in the sky. Seems there is a lot of invoking of a diety and not much about a holistic approach to actually stopping drinking, shooting up, snorting or however the drug is imbibed.

However I am sure that Col will be an invaluable source of empathy and assistance for the plight of his good friend Polly's son's alcoholism. And that is a good thing, isn't it?

CJ Moron… I ponder why anyone, capable of such cynicism as you display, bothers to breath and extend their personal agony.

Fractelle “After reading Col's 12 steps for recovery from substance abuse,”

My apology, I should have referenced the source, rather than leave you to presume the 12 steps werte my idea…

If you go to
http://www.aa.org.au/factfile/fact_file_twelve_steps.php?nav=mb

people there are far more experienced than I in the matter of substance abuse – actually they had a meeting at the weekend in Drysdale and I did go along (although not for personal solace).

however, one point about them steps
#10 “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. “
Equates to values I endeavour to follow for myself, regardless that I am not addicted to anything, being about accepting personal accountability and responsibility for our actions.

“I considered what a 12 step program would be for atheists, Buddhists, or any who do not believe in a a big daddy in the sky”

You need to reread the text particularly “God as we understood Him.”

“However I am sure that Col will be an invaluable source of empathy and assistance for the plight of his good friend Polly's son's alcoholism. And that is a good thing, isn't it?”

There is, supposedly, good in all of us

and I am sure if we were to look long enough and hard enough we just might find some in you and CJ Moron too.

Well, at least I'm discerning in the company I keep, and don't fantasise about butchering pets, nor gloat over drowning refugees.