Poll: Need Your opinion on former drug users

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Does it change your general opinion of a person (AS, NT or Other) if you find out they've ever used drugs and/or alcohol, even though they may currently be clean & sober?

I am interested in your replies and reasons, if any. If none of these selections applies to you, please post any differing views you may have on this subject.

Thank you very much!

these observations have some validity to a young mind.
this validity gets diluted with age and you may raise eyebrows but not be too concerned.


younger people tend to associate with others they want to identify with and until one develops a sense of identity the company they keep will be thought to reflect upon them.

Lots of people abuse drugs and alcohol. My father did once. So I don't like to be around them when they're using drugs/alcohol, but I don't mind them as much when they're sober.

I accept people for who they are; where they have been may have helped to create them, but it does not define them. To be honest, those who have overcome their problems have often been some of the more understanding people that I have met in this world. And if I expect others to look at the person I am now and not only on the challenges I've faced getting here, I should respond with the same approach.


M.

Additional note: I do have a lot of respect for former drug addicts who manage to get cleaned up.

I just can't deal with the morbid symptoms of a drug addict,
specifically all the bad things they cannot stop themselves
from doing to get drugs and doing while they are on drugs.

I don't condemn anyone for only having been intoxicated.

Its only the person i cares about. But i will not be around aslong as they are effected by the drugs

I take people as they are, or as I see them. If they're scum, they're scum. If they're decent, they're decent. And if they're great, they're great.

My step father was an alcohol and drug addict that tried to stop(I thought he was slimy, but my mom seemed happy with him so I didn't say anything), he couldn't let go of his user friends and family and before we knew it he was stealing and selling our stuff to pay for his addiction. He took the accusatory route blaming us and abandoned our mother leaving her to deal with two mortgages and bills he ran up. The church they went to took him in and shunned mom.

Lots of interesting replies! Thanks to everyone who has posted so far & voted on the poll.

I'm curious about this because as a recovered alcoholic and drug user, I've been sober & drug free for 17 years now, and usually when I tell people about my distant past, I've noticed a few people suddenly grow cold toward me and avoid me afterward. Funny thing is, it's usually the church-going types that avoid me. They, of all people, should be happy for someone who has straightened their life out. This is probably why I don't go to church hardly at all anymore -- people there are too judgmental of others around them. I never bring this up to anyone I know at work, either, because people start talking to each other about it and next thing I know, no one is talking to me at ALL.

I was just wondering if you've met anyone new in your life then dissociated yourself from them because of past drug/alcohol use even though they might be drug-free at the time you met them -- and any reasons why.

I commend you for having the courage and the will-power to recover. From what I've heard, it can be extremely difficult to clean up, and even after you do, you have to keep fighting off the urge to go back to your old "habits."

Unfortunately, people are too judgemental when it's not someone they know personally. And there is a lot of hypocrisy in some churches.

I being an ex-addict, don't judge people based on their past or present addictions. Everybody has an equal opportunity to be considered a good person, in my eyes. It's things like lying, cheating, stealing, hurting others, etc... that can change my opinion of a person. For me, everyone starts with a clean slate, and it will stay that way, until they prove otherwise. I like to give all people a chance, reguardless of their past(to an extent).

[quote="anbuend
Personally I take people as they are, and I've met plenty of super-destructive people who've never done drugs, and plenty of decent people who have (including some who still continue to do so...[/quote]

I agree. I know people like this as well, some of them are my family members who have cheated on spouses, ignored their kids, etc - all without the help of drugs/alcohol.

What was it that Confucious (sp?) said...paraphrasing - "He who lives in glass houses should not throw stones."

Former junkie here.

*raises hand*

I kind of play my association with them and "judgements' by ear. But there are some die-hard considerations for me anyway.

It depends how long they have been sober. Even if it has been just a few days, I'll give them a shot. They're trying.

It depends on what they were addicted to. Some drugs change you; biochemically, and they change you with the experiences you've had while you were addicted. Some drugs are worse than others in the potential of what they expose you to. They all have their own little sub-cultures within sub-cultures.

The longer they have been away from it (generally) the more stable they are.

I saw some really sh***y things when I was down there, but I saw more grace then you would ever guess. Folks are folks.