[redwitch]

True re once an addict, always an addict. But I prefer to think of it as someone is no long addicted and a user. And yes to kowing about addiction. I lost one of my best friends to heroin. She tried for years to quit using. I was the one she called when high, when coming down, when trying to quit, when going into and out of rehab. I'd hang up on her when high. Get her to the hospital when going through cold turkey. Pick her up from rehab (she had to find her own way there). She'd try so hard to stay clean and something would always come along to get her started again. She ultimately died of an overdose. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I ever had to see and I do have deep sympathies for anyone addicted -- whether it is to cigarettes, like me; cocaine; or whatever. There is no question that drug and alcohol addictions are illnesses. Very few quit using without a lot of help, a deep desire to quit and the strength to say no once they have quit. I'm still praying that Charlie finds the desire to quit. I really do believe he has the strength to stay off once he sees what his life can be like. My friend never had that strength.