I'm an Addict 

So are you... don't kid yourself. What's your drug? Nicotine? Caffeine? Alcohol? Calories? They all do the same thing:

A chemical substance, such as a narcotic or hallucinogen, that affects the central nervous system, causing changes in behavior and often addiction.

We generally classify a drug as something that changes your body in some way, which also creates some sort of chemical dependence. People also associate a drug with some sort of negative consequence that results from using it. Well let's cover them won't we?

Smoking: Let's face it... cigarettes are considered a drug, though a strangely legal one. Darleen has an interesting perspective that I share, having never smoked myself either. Well that's not 100% true. I've never smoked cigarettes. I have had the occasional cigar. I also don't curse anyone who lights up next to me. She also points to a column asking Would you be more upset if you found your child cheating or smoking? It's an interesting perspective. But in the end, no matter what ill health affects may occur, there is a reason people start in the first place. The Anti-Smoking forces would lead us to believe that it is all about peer pressure. And once you start because of that, then the evil nicotine gets you. Well if that's not the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Nicotine can have a very calming effect on someone. It makes you feel good. That's why people start. Of course for some people, the smell and feel of a nice cigar is enough to smoke one.

Caffeine: This is one addiction I fully admit to. I hits me the hardest in the morning sometimes when I find myself scrounging through the change dish in my desk drawer looking for Dt. Mtn. Dew money... desperate to find that last nickel that I need. The Agitator recently has a roundup of posts on how people are now coming after Big Java, because coffee drinking is increasing among teenagers, possibly due to coffee being marketed towards them. *Gasp*. Go back 20 years... sound familiar anyone? But caffeine also has it's up sides. It wakes you up in the morning, and kicks you into gear. It is a stimulant, and a mild one at that. Of course as anyone who has gone without for a day or two knows, it also can cause withdrawl.

Alcohol: This is a stranger one, as addiction seems to me at least to be harder to come by. But once you are addicted to it, it's even harder to drop than some of the others. The effects of alcohol are known to almost everyone... both the positive and negative ones. It impairs the senses, offers a sense of euphoria sometimes. It eases your inhibitions. Are these positive? Sure. Are these negatives? You betcha. Though some would want to keep you from being drunk in a bar.

Calories: Oh yeah... food is a drug too. Ever try to go without food for a protracted period of time? You might start to feel light headed, irritable, your get pains in your stomach. Go without food long enough and you'll die. Tell me that's not addictive. Some people even have a more psychological dependence on food leading to obesity. And what about heart disease and diabetes which are caused by certain things in food. But then again, there is the smell, the taste, the feeling after a good meal. Now the federal government is making some pretty strict recommendations about your diet... and some people are calling this food porn.

Drugs all act the same way. They are something you choose to put in your body, that offers some positive effect, and often comes with negative ones. Those who want to ban all nature of drugs (whether cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, or certain foods) want to remove that choice from you. The concentrate on the negatives only, and forget the positive things that come from them. So why can't an adult weigh the pros and cons, and make an adult decision for him or herself? Why is that so hard for people to do?