From: user6340@newsgrouper.org.invalid   
      
   Mike  posted:   
   > On 2025-12-17 12:55, Steven Douglas wrote:   
   > > JTEM  posted:   
   > >> On 12/16/25 8:06 PM, Steven Douglas wrote:   
   > >>> JTEM  posted:   
   > >>>> On 12/16/25 6:46 PM, Steven Douglas wrote:   
   > >>>>   
   > >>>>> There are a lot of kids who are given drugs to get   
   > >>>>> them hooked, then they go out and commit crimes to   
   > >>>>> get the money to buy drugs.   
   > >>>>   
   > >>>> I don't believe that. It's a common myth, and was   
   > >>>> either a plot point on vintage crime dramas or so   
   > >>>> close to it that no doubt it's the source.   
   > >>   
   > >>> [quoting] "There is a close relationship between   
   > >>> drug abuse and crime. Drug abusers commit crimes   
   > >>> to pay for their drugs and this inflicts damages   
   > >>> to the society. Moreover, many criminals are under   
   > >>> the influence of drugs while committing crimes.   
   > >>> Drug trafficking is another outcome of drug abuse.   
   > >>   
   > >> This does not address what you claimed and I was   
   > >> responding to. You said that drug dealers give away   
   > >> drugs to get them hooked, forcing them into crime to   
   > >> pay for the habit.   
   > >>   
   > >> You quoted you above. I left it in. It was a VERY   
   > >> different statement than the one you are now   
   > >> supporting.   
   > >   
   > >  From personal experience, back in the 80s when the   
   > > cocaine epidemic was rampant in the region where I   
   > > live, I would sometimes be invited to parties where   
   > > there was cocaine freely available for anyone who   
   > > wanted to try it. No charge, just everyone having   
   > > fun at a party. I know people who became regular   
   > > cocaine users because of those parties.   
   >   
   > I'm very disappointed in you Steven.   
   > I did not imagine you could be caught   
   > in such situations. What is about you   
   > that made them keep inviting you?   
      
   I haven't made it a secret that I got caught up in   
   the wrong crowd when I was younger. I've mentioned   
   that I smoked marijuana, and I tried a few other   
   drugs but never got very deeply involved in those,   
   thank God! It was during a time in my life when I   
   had strayed away from my religious upbringing, and   
   I got involved with some godless people who were   
   looking for the answers to life in sex, drugs, and   
   rock and roll.   
      
   I actually have some resentment for some of the   
   people who encouraged me away from God and towards   
   the illicit lifestyle that I eventually abandoned,   
   and with the help of God I turned my life around.   
      
   And since then, I have grown closer to Jesus with   
   every passing day. Because Jesus really is the   
   answer that so many people are looking for, but   
   they get distracted by the wrong people, who then   
   take them down the wrong path.   
   >   
   > I've never felt comfortable at parties,   
   > definitely never been  to one where coke   
   > was being freely handed out. I've never   
   > even been invited to such a party. I am   
   > truly shocked to learn of the kinds of people   
   > you have been known to hang out with.   
      
   I don't hang out with those people anymore. I now   
   hang out with people who believe in Jesus, and I   
   have repented and asked Jesus for forgiveness for   
   my previous (long ago) lifestyle. Maybe you can   
   see it in your heart to forgive me, too.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)