Old 02-01-2015, 05:02 PM
  # 444 (permalink)  
freshstart57
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Toronto Canada
Posts: 5,148
Look up the defintion of the word in any reference book. You will see the present tense used - one who is dependent on ~/ one who is addicted to ~/ one who experiences withdrawal from~ This goes for common English usage as well as medical or psychiatric usage. One simply is not addicted to or dependent on a substance that is not being ingested presently.

Once we begin to redefine words to suit a particular agenda, the whole talking thing loses its focus, and enlightened discussion becomes a problem.

I am not addicted to nicotine - I quit smoking 7 months ago. I am not addicted to heroin, I have never used it. I expect I would develop a dependency on either if I were to consume them regularly.

Likewise for me for alcohol. I simply don't fit this meaning of the word. Now, as you now know, there are others who will claim to have been alcoholics before their first drink. Does this mean I could now be a heroin addict and I don't even know it?

I call shenanigans. And yes, this is AV writ large and clear. If I continue to be an alcoholic despite years of continuous abstinence, then a relapse is only a day away, and the AV is cracking open a celebratory beer in anticipation.
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