....to think the term 'junkie' is hugely offensive and ignorant....

[InFlames]

...following on from the Amy Winehouse thread...this will either take off or I'll be slammed for bad nettiquette won't I?


I think the term 'junkies' is really offensive. Would you refer to people experiencing psychosis or schizophrenia as 'psychos'?

AIBU?

[InFlames]

Yep I agree tho am in nurse education at the mo so busy instilling the ideals- and some reality too :-)

[duckdodgers]

Good luck with your course

[InFlames]

If only - I'm a lecturer, and just finishing PhD! Sign I remember my student days fondly...

[duckdodgers]

Ah, well maybe that requires even more luck and patience than doing the course

[onagar]

Don't take illegal drugs and you won't be despised for it.

There - another problem solved.

Btw if you take illegal drugs you're also a criminal. Even if you post on MN and/or are middle class.

[motheroftwoboys]

Not sure about junkie being derogatory - you would have to ask one! My DH is a recovering alcoholic and I know they call themselves alcies amongst themselves but I do not think it would be appropriate for anyone else to do so. Likewise I have gay friends who call themselves queer but I would not dream of doing so. As long as everyone remembers that addiction is an ILLNESS that needs medical treatment. As Amy Winehouse was addicted to drugs she would also be addicted to alcohol and other sorts of addictive behaviour. We all know the dangers of drinking, smoking and drugs but it doesn't stop most people using one or the other. Yes, people are aware of the risks but never think they will be become addicted to their drug of choice be that a Marlborough Light, a chilled glass of Pinot Grigiot or a spliff! I feel it is very sanctimonious for anyone to criticize a fellow human being for their choices unless you have never smoked, take a drug or had a drink yourself.

[InFlames]

onegar - it's so much more complicated than that. As evidenced by the number of posts on this thread detailing that very fact, and the number of personal testimonials about drug misuse and living with a family member / parent addicted to drugs. Must be nice living in a world where it;'s so black and white though...!

[InFlames]

Sorry *onagar" - damned iphone.

And I agree motheroftwobotys

[khaliwali]

Really???????

[Pendeen]

YANBU to think the term 'junkie' is is hugely offensive and ignorant.

YANBU be offended at any word.

Although YWBU to expect everyone else to share your point of view as to what terms are offensive and what are not.

[LadyOfTheManor]

InFlames, are you denying that junkies (I think the word is fine to use btw) are criminals?

[LadyOfTheManor]

So in order for a junkie to "consume" the drug, you're agreeing the drug would need to be in their possession?

[LadyOfTheManor]

"66% of sentenced women in prison say they were either drug dependent or drinking to hazardous levels before custody. [A University of Oxford report on the health of 500 women prisoners found that 58% of women had used drugs daily in the six months before prison and 75% of women prisoners had used illegal drugs during that six month period.]"

here

Let's be honest, those women didn't end up in prison by mistake...so I think it's fair to say that the 75% that had used illegal drugs in the past 6 months (according to the research) were involved in criminal activity.

Let's run the same number of non-drug dependent people with mental health issues, and see if they tot up the same number of prison inmates.

[LadyOfTheManor]

"The first NEW-ADAM analysis (1999) from the Home Office [12] first report found that:

?Almost half of arrestees (46%) who reported using drugs in the last 12 months believed that their drug use and crime were connected. The most frequent connection cited was the need for money to buy drugs. There was also some support for the view that arrestees whose drug use and crime were connected would report higher levels of criminal involvement. Arrestees who said that their drug use and offending were connected reported illegal incomes (a measure of criminal involvement) on average two to three times higher than those who said that their drug use and crime were not connected.

The research found a statistically significant correlation between number of positive urine tests and amount of reported illegal income (the ave rage illegal income of arrestees with no positive tests was £3,000, compared with over £12,000 among arrestees with three positive tests). Arrestees who tested positive for opiates, methadone, or cocaine reported levels of illegal income two to three times higher than those who tested negative for these drugs.?"

interesting reading

[catgirl1976]

onagar have you ever broken the speed limit? That is also a crime.

[catgirl1976]

The latest speculation (unconfirmed) is that she died from taking a dodgy ecstacy tablet. If that is true it is especially sad as it not the drugs she has been addicted to that have killed her but sheer bad luck. Ecstacy kills 7 in 1 million users as opposed to alchohol which kills 625 in every million users.

If these rumours are true the people who say her "choices" led to her tragic death, they might want to consider that in this instance, she chose to do something statisitcally 625 times less risky than having a glass of wine.

[InFlames]

I don't see drug addicts as criminals, no. I see them as needing help and support- which is often massively under resources and underfunded.

[InFlames]

Though rates of mental illness, personality disorder and drug addictions are huge in prison populations, so yes there is a correlation with drug addiction and crime - but I don't think custodial sentences and criminal records are conducive to recovery.

[hifi]

its a slang word,do you expect people to you the correct terminologhy all the time? yabu

[InFlames]

My view is that slang words are part of stigma and discrimination, in a lot of different ways, so I don't think they're ok to use personally.

[ThumbsNoseAtSnapewitch]

There is a move to include addictions as a mental illness in the DSM-V (handbook of mental disorders produced by the American Psychiatric Association). Substance abuse/dependence was already in the DSM-IV. So it is already designated as a recognised mental disorder.

Interestingly, compulsive over-eating is also being proposed to be included, for similar reasons - the brain response (the reward/pleasure systems) works in similar fashion in over-eating as in drug-seeking and other addictive behaviours (including gambling); it is not as easy as "I choose to/not to do this" for some people.

[ThumbsNoseAtSnapewitch]

Oh and YANBU if you find it hugely offensive but other people won't necessarily agree with you; it never crossed my mind to be offended by it before but I'll think twice before using it now.

[Esta3GG]

As the only drug addict I know refers to himself as a junkie, I will leave it up to him to decide what is and what isn't offensive.

[LadyOfTheManor]

What about paedophiles InFlames?

Mental illness, check.

Criminal activity, check.

Colloquial/slang names, check.

How much compassion do you feel?