Something I want to address to the board that struck a nerve with me

In lieu of my "What do you guys have against Keane?" post there were some posts which attacked Tom for not being able to handle his drugs and being a "pussy" when it comes to that, and I just felt like I had to say something about that.

If you don't like Keane's music, that's fine, that's one thing. But to attack Tom's drug dependency is something which I feel crosses the line of human decency. Everyone has different brain chemistry, and everyone is different when it comes to addiction. It is believed that some people have a predisposition to become alcoholics. Some people just naturally have addictive personalities. I am one of them. I have a drug problem. I will admit it. I know what it feels like to feel the effects of withdrawal and to feel hopeless and depressed and miserable due to the effects and aftereffects of alcohol and drugs. By you guys making fun of him for not being able to hold his drugs shows that you cannot relate to his situation, and if you cannot relate to his pain, then making comments like that might not be necessary, don't you think?

Drugs have ruined the lives of millions of people over all the world, and drug addicts struggle with their moods, their feelings, their desires, and their attempts to get sober. All we know about Tom's drug problem was that at one point it was so bad that he had to cancel Keane's tour two years ago to check into rehab. If he had to go through all that, don't you think that he as a human being was struggling immensely??? You don't get it, do you? Of course you can say he never should have tried drugs in the first place, but who hasn't experimented with them at some point in their lives. A select few become addicted and can't function without them. Drug addiction is an ILLNESS. It is not something that people can completely control, and when you guys mock him for his drug problems it bothers me because I feel you don't have empathy and you don't know what he's going through. I admire his willpower to seek treatment and I hope that he can live a clean happy successful life, as can I hopefully at some point.

Look, I don't mean to chastise everyone who made a comment about his drug problem....i'm just saying, before you make comments like that, put yourself in that person's shoes. And if you can't, then maybe commenting on his personal issues just isn't necessary.

J

Pissing anxiety is also a serious illness.

(edit:written before popey's missive, but posted after)

He's just another Winehouse, ruining it for the rest of us.

And I am becoming increasingly convinced that you sir, are a bot/script.

Calling addiction an illness BTW, is insulting to anyone who HAS a serious illness. I am very sure that if a cancer patient could go "cold turkey" for a day or two and not have cancer any more, they'd go for it in a flash. Having had both terminally ill folks, and addicted folks (booze of course) in the family I can tell you that there's one of those sorts of people that you can "cure" by locking in their bedroom for a couple of days.

Unlike some other insensitive patrons of this board, I can commiserate with Toms pains....

... I think about boobs all the time, and no matter how I try I can't quit

No Holiday wrote: before you make comments like that, put yourself in that person's shoes. And if you can't, then maybe commenting on his personal issues just isn't necessary.

J

I,ve been in the very same position, got over myself and got on with my life, if he cant handle that shit then DON'T DO IT!!!!, dead easy, as doc says peaople dying of cancer or other people with REAL illnesses would very easily swap problems with a fopp woth a drug problem. people with drug PROBLEMS are weak minded fools who are so self absorbed and need to get a grip, "oh poor pop star with too much time and money on his hands, lets give him sympathy and feel his pain, the poor tortured artist" COCK OFF!!!

i've got a touch of flu. i think i'd probably be cured if someone locked me in my bedroom for a couple of days. it's still a bastard illness though. where are my grapes?

beck, you do have my sympathy, i've had that and it's awfull, you aint getting no grapes though...

This forum is going to the dogs.

Beautifully put by Leady and Dr.

I don't expect sympathy or understanding from anyone when I'm fucked up and being disgraceful and I don't have much sympathy for anyone else. I have to work really hard not to let drink and drugs rule my life. It's certainly not a joke for me and not an issue I take lightly.

I find it abhorrent that anyone would use addiction to gain a bit of publicity for their dumb band or to excuse bad behaviour or to get out of doing something they don't fancy doing.

That's what I mean by lightweight: not someone who can't take it but someone who doesn't know when not to, can't shut the fuck up about it while they do it and can't take responsibility for their own behaviour.

And before anyone else says so - I know perfectly well that I am guilty of all of these. But at least I know and at least I try and Poland doesn't count because I was pissed, okay?

El Jarvo wrote: I never knew Keane did drugs?

Well done them.

I just thought they were cunts up to now!

Lightweight :nod:

Must be hard for them in the music industry though, where complementary booze, drugs all over the place and late nights and lazy mornings are part of the job description.

I mean your heart really does go out to them when they can't handle it, doesn't it?

Fucking lightweights.

Something I want to address to the board that struck a nerve with me, WHY DO PEOPLE COME TO A NEW ORDER FORUM TO DISCUSS KEANE????, THEN GET ARSY WHEN WE SLAG THEM OFF????

Ponyboy wrote: Must be hard for them in the music industry though, where complementary booze, drugs all over the place and late nights and lazy mornings are part of the job description.

I mean your heart really does go out to them when they can't handle it, doesn't it?

Fucking lightweights.

i am using the flu to get out of something i don't fancy doing. i find that abhorrent.

i love it when people get morally outraged on these boards. it's the same tutting and sighing and wagging of fingers as you'd get from provincial housewives, but instead of 'don't do drugs' or 'don't hit people', it becomes 'do drugs and hit people but only in the way we have decreed it is acceptable to do so.'

I'm not issuing any decrees or telling anyone else how to think. Just my point of view, based on my experiences. Please don't feel obliged to agree with me.

Edit: if you read my post, in fact most of them, you will notice that I deliberately write phrases like 'I think' which make it clear that it's an opinion, not hard medical fact.

You should fucking well learn to fucking read properly before you fucking start picking on me for issuing decrees.

PS Get well soon x

I "struggle with my moods, feelings and attempts to get sober". Does that mean I am a drug addict?

I have a hangover today - because I CHOSE to drink too much.

I have a raging cough today - worsened because I CHOSE to smoke too many cigarettes.

There is always a starting point and at any point you can CHOOSE not to do it if you want to. Like obesity for example.......there must be a day when you look in the mirror and think 'ooh, I've put weight on' and then start cutting down on your calories, if you don't you get fatter. Simple.

It's all addiction v choice.

EDIT - oh Steve, yes you're right, I've had prescription drugs for 30+ years, I'd love to stop taking them; problem is if I do...............I might have to go back to work

See to be honest,

No Holiday wrote: In lieu of my "What do you guys have against Keane?"...

thats were i lost interest

I don't like the idea of addiction as an 'illness', surely its a behaviour? But I don't have any opinion on this Keane fellow's drug issues, I just don't like his band's music.

Also 'in lieu of' means 'in place of', so I don't understand the first sentence of the initial post.

I too have a drug problem ; my usual man who can has started turning his phone off at about 10PM. It's fucking frustrating. Any suggestions? Help/support groups I could join?

bloodynora wrote: i am using the flu to get out of something i don't fancy doing. i find that abhorrent.

i love it when people get morally outraged on these boards. it's the same tutting and sighing and wagging of fingers as you'd get from provincial housewives, but instead of 'don't do drugs' or 'don't hit people', it becomes 'do drugs and hit people but only in the way we have decreed it is acceptable to do so.'

It's more like......"do what you feel, but don't piss on about it".

Come to think of it, by that token, NH should fit right in with Keane (cue a speech on how, as someone who's never touched drugs, he can confidently say they are a 100% bad thing).

Besides, as with most things NOOL, the rule is "as ye sow, so shall ye reap".

Silly gets you silly. Nasty gets you nasty. And bleating moralizing gets you bleating moralizing (and a dig in the chops if there was any justice).

You're becoming very sensible Ms Nolan, stop it at ONCE, it does NOT become you!

that guy's 'drug use' seemed liked a publicity stunt. I'm convinced a cokehead would never make music like that.

GlasVegas wrote: I too have a drug problem ; my usual man who can has started turning his phone off at about 10PM. It's fucking frustrating. Any suggestions? Help/support groups I could join?

That really sucks.

Also,what about alot of the rubbish going about that's not worth bothering with..

The whole industry should be regulated.

It can be a such a carry on getting sorted with good gear,at times..

Get mine from Rocket Mick.EVIL DUST.:D

I got a tooth in which the filling is too close to the nerve and it irritated the nerve, so I have to get a root canal... is this a disease also? Do I blame tooth decay disease? Should I sue the dentists and blame them for incompetance? Do I blame a candy bar addiction? Or am I afflicted with genes that give me a disease that gives me poor oral health skills? Which illness do I have, what should I blame? Cause I certainly cannot be held responsible!

Doctor? wrote:

You're becoming very sensible Ms Nolan, stop it at ONCE, it does NOT become you!

i know! i can only apologise. i've given up the booze and the fags - i suspect there may be a link. maybe i am as dull as i feared beneath the artificial stimulants, or maybe i'm just feeling really nowty and spoiling for a scrap.

i wouldn't be surprised if this so-called 'flu' was actually withdrawal.

Drug addiction an ilness?

More the weak minded individual more like.

Yeah the smackrats round are way are really ill,in fact they are so ill they beat up old ladies and burgle houses just so they can get their "fix".

To NH,if you are addicted to drugs then i've got a suggestion,why don't you piss off and go cold turkey for a couple of weeks This includes 2 weeks nool cold turkey then just maybe you will come back a better person and save us from all your incessant drivvel.

People react because you post bollocks.

Unfortunately their aint no sympathy on here boy.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=701857&category=OPINION

Drug addiction an illness, not a crime

By ANTHONY PAPA First published in print: Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Tatum O'Neal, the Oscar-winning actress, took a plea deal last week stemming from her June 1 arrest while supposedly trying to score some crack cocaine on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She was initially charged with possession of a controlled substance and faced a year in prison if convicted. The court allowed her to plead out to a disorderly conduct charge and ordered her to attend two half-day drug treatment sessions. If she follows the court's orders, the cocaine possession charges will be dismissed.

O'Neal has been open about her history of heroin addiction as outlined in her memoir, "A Paper Life." When she was arrested by undercover officers, they searched her and found two bags of cocaine along with an unused crack pipe. She had initially told police she was doing research for an acting role. Then she changed her story and told them that the death of her 16-year-old dog nearly triggered her into relapse.

Some say O'Neal was treated with a slap on the wrist. Others say she did not deserve to do any jail time because of her addiction. This raises a critical question that we as a society need to address. Should we treat drug addiction as a criminal matter, or as a medical problem?

For most people, treatment is a much more effective approach than imprisonment for successfully breaking their addictions, yet our prisons are full of individuals whose only crime is their drug addiction.

According to Justice Department statistics, the United States has more prisoners than any country in the world, 2.5 million and rising. In 2006, the Justice Department recorded the largest increase since 2000 in the number of people in prisons and jails. Criminal justice experts attribute the exploding prison population to harsh sentencing laws and record numbers of drug law violators entering the system, many of whom have substance abuse problems.

Nonviolent drug offenders like Tatum O'Neal should be given an opportunity to receive treatment, not jail time, for their drug use. This would be a more effective (not to mention much more affordable) solution for both the individual and the community. Prosecutors in many states, most notably New York, have leeway to recommend a defendant to treatment instead of incarceration. More than likely, however, they will not do it. This is because it would not be considered a victory for them. The system does not reward prosecutors for doing the compassionate thing.

O'Neal can be an example for millions of young people. One can only hope that her experiences with addiction and the realities of the drug war will encourage her to join the movement to reform U.S. drug policy. If she decides to take up the cause of treatment, she could help change laws across the country. After all, if treatment instead of jail is good enough for her as she struggles with her addiction, surely it is good enough for the thousands of others just like her who struggle with their own substance abuse problems.

Like depression, addiction affects tens of millions of Americans. How best to treat it is a serious a question we need to explore. Rich or poor, young or old, addiction has no boundaries. But the drug war does. Our long war on drugs has stifled the open debate society should be having about the nature of addiction and how best to deal with it. It is time to treat addiction for what it is -- a medical problem, not a criminal one.

Anthony Papa is a communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance, http://www.drugpolicy.org.

Guys, please don't take it personal.....Some people have said something about Tom's drug issues and I understand that this is a message board and more or less anything goes. I have sympathy for Tom Chaplin as a HUMAN, not as a "rock star". And I don't think he checked into rehab to make a big deal to promote his band. I think he told the media the honest truth as to why he had to cancel his tour dates.

If you do drugs and can handle them, more power to you! Hell, if you feel that they don't affect you to the point where they affected Tom, that is great for you! I am not anti-drug. I think marijuana should be legalized. I'm just saying I know how it feels to deal with something which is destroying you internally, and you are doing your best to live without it, and you are still being a fiend who's mind is saying "dont do it", but body is saying "sniff it! snort it!, smoke it!" and the drug controls you. I sympathize with Tom that it took a burden on his life and we cannot even fathom the pure hell he must have went through in trying to cope with his issues. Money and success is nothing when it is on the brink of being destroyed because of personal problems like drug addiction. Do you guys even realize what crack/cocaine does to you??????? I admire Tom for seeking treatment and I hope he's at a point in his life where the burden of being tempted by drugs has subsided.

And to the poster that asked me why i'm talking about Keane on a New Order message board: Did you notice that the post is in the "Behind Closed Doors" part of the forum where we can talk about anything??????? Despite the backlash that I always get, I know someone here has to be with me on this. Maybe not the majority, but someone!

Anyways, this is my last post on here for a bit. I need to get myself together.

J