To not feel any sympathy for drug-smuggling women?

[DarceyBissell]

Just that really. Two young women facing 25 years in a Peruvian jail for trying to smuggle 11kg of cocaine. Saw they described as 'vulnerable' in one paper. Hardly. Greedy and stupid though.

No one has mentioned guilt. But by definition anyone who chooses to self medicate is ill so you are not unusual

Why does former drug addict accepting responsibility = Feel sorry for these two adults?

But isn't all of this demonstrating that legalisation/decriminalisation is the lesser of two evils ?

Yes. I suppose what I get pissed off about is the hypocrisy I've seen amongst the people I know who take drugs. And some of them wound up being addicts too.

It's take a gram on a Friday. Do yoga on Sunday and only ever buy ethical coffee. The sorts of people who absolutely would never ever mix with crooks and criminals yet who happily hand over £50.00 to their "great, reliable, cool" dealer.

I'm now talking myself out of having sympathy for these girls now too.

Very appropriate name tit have there special agent

And Kelly what ever form I have used of rehab has clearly worked

I feel sorry for the girls as they are young and they must be scared for their future and I feel sorry for their mums. I would hate this to happen to my dd where they did it or not. I hope the British couslet can help see that the law is followed and that the girls are treated fairly.

eccentrica whilst Im sorry you are hurting because you have lost your friend to drugs I fail to see how legalising them would have prevented it - if someone wants to take ecstasy, heroin, cocaine etc they will, be it through legal or illegal means. I might not have lost a lived one but ad Psychiatric Nurse I have lost a few patients.

It shows the enormity of the drugs issue. There are people everywhere for who it seems some sort of solution. People in peru who feel it will elevate them from their existence,the smugglers think its an easy earner,the addicts think it will fill that hole in them. All temporary fixes with potentially life destroying endings.

I hope that's a compliment Arnie!

I think you should be very proud you're off that shite. Someone I love very, very dearly was in a similar scenario - Hooked when ill. Except so far they haven't stopped and I fear their death virtually every day now. :( Stories like yours give me hope.

Loved one even

*Proud you're off that shite, not ashamed you're on it.

What you say about Peru is heartbreaking noddy, I know it's true but still heartbreaking. :(

The world is full of hurt and unfortunately also full of people willing to take advantage. That's before we even get into people stupid enough to go from booze to a needle from peer pressure! Stupid is the wrong word but gullible doesn't feel strong enough IMHO if we're talking 2013 at least.

I have no answer to the drug problem. All I know is I want those dealers gone! Doesn't stop someone with an addiction, but it may stop someone else becoming addicted.

That's why I love Breaking Bad, as unrealistic as it is it shows how soul destroying both ends of the deal are.

my take on drugs is supply and demand, if every adult just said no the first time there would be no demand and no money to be made. Individual responsability to stop drugs is for people to not take them in the first place.

I was told that stop smoking is 5 times harder than to stop taking heroin, its doable. There is help for addicts. There need not be a demand for drugs.

Why does former drug addict accepting responsibility = Feel sorry for these two adults? Maybe from an empathetic perspective in that like Arnie here are two young women about to have their lives ruined by the drug trade. In most of these cases the 'smugglers' who get caught in these high profile cases are young women. They are hardly Pablo Escobar and they are certainly not going to make the sort of money which makes the risk even worth it (even if they did get paid).

'I was told that stop smoking is 5 times harder than to stop taking heroin'

Total and utter bullshit. Smoking has few physical withdrawl symptoms. Heroin on the other hand . . . . .

We know nothing about these girls backgrounds. They could be riddled with self doubt and thought returning home with £ would somehow validate them There are so many possibilities I just think condemning them and blaming them for addiction etc is simplistic

My brother had a 7 yr heroin habit and he cannot kick tobacco.

That may well be true but that doesn't mean that tobacco is harder to kick than heroin.

I was told that by a NHS stop smoking nurse/person!

I think it was in the leflet they give out too.

It's not true.

The NHS talks a lot of horseshit about giving up smoking, they're busy pushing nicotine replacements, so it's in their interests to make everyone think stopping smoking is oh so hard.

Gives me the rage.

My brother was heavy heroin user think close to death . He said the first 72 hours were hellish but the main recovery is mental.

Of course it may be true they have some terrible background.

But I'm far more sympathetic to the young women who are forced into this by the drug trade or because of life in their own country than educated tourists who want a quick buck.

I know that came out wrong but I hope someone sees where I'm attempting to come from in this vein of thought!

Yes, I think that's the key to all addictions, recognising that the mental addiction is way more powerful than the physical.

Good for your brother for overcoming it, can't imagine what that must have been like.

sweetest because if heroin was available legally, the strength would be known, and it would not be contaminated with all sorts of rubbish.

my friend died because the batch he had was much stronger than he could have realised.

plus if it was legal, there would be tax coming in which could be spent on society, not lining criminals' pockets.

there is nothing inherently wrong with taking drugs.