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Martin Luther Kin!i Jr^ SP ^ 1^ Edition^
Jan^ 13^ 1999
Substance Abuse: An Act of Violence Against Self
B \ WVNNE BoVl-VN
W hat does it m ean for us, as a society
today, w hen all w e have to d o is look at
tamilv m em bers, friends and acquain
tances to find a life dam aged by sub
stance abuse'.’ W e d o n ’t have tar to look
before locating som eone caught up in
the w ebofthisaffliction. Today w hat we
know about substance abuse is that it
can lead to addiction that im pacts the
individual in every aspect o f their lives.
W e’ve all heard the excuses. “It’s
been a stressful day. I ’m overw eight, I
need more energy. 1 need to unw ind or
get into the party m ood, I have midterms,
finals, just let m e get past this deadline
then I’ll q u it 1 only use it to party, Ic a n ’t
handle the stress o f life w ithout it, I’m
dealing w itha loss, it’s theonly w ay I can
deal with my spouse, my boss, m y in
la w s...’’ W hen an individual begins
abusing alcohol or o th er drugs w hat are
they really saying? 1
believe that person
is say in g “ I d o n ’t
care about m y self or
anyone else ” People
kno w about the dan
gers o f using toxic
substances and they
will use them any
way. It d o esn ’t m at
ter w ho you are or
how you were raised,
c h e m ic a l d e p e n
dence can happen to
anyone.
So w hy is «people
b eco m e su b stan ce
abusers? A side from
a genetic predispo
sition for addiction
in many people, there
are still a great many
unknow ns about
Wynne Boylan
substance abuse. It doesn’t m atter what
excuse an individual uses w hen they
begin abusing chemicals. The bottom
line is th is.. w hen you know ingly take a
toxicchem ical into your body and abuse
it, you are com m itting an act o f violence.
Y ou are harm ing vour body At first you
m ay not feel the impact, but eventually
have the disease o f addiction. I’m con
dem ning the act o f abusing a substance
w hen you know alxiut the dam age your
using has caused. M aking the decision
to use rather than accepting help is an
act o f violence w hether you’re ready to
adm it this or not. If substance abuse is
an actofviolence, then ahstinence would
you begin to feel the damage.
T he spiritual effect o f substance
abuse is significant Each tim e you abuse
a substance, you lose a piece o f your
soul, until there ’ s nothing left but a husk
o f w hat used to be your “hum anity”.
I’m not condem ning people w ho
be the nonviolent alternative. Ifw e are to
com m it to a season o f nonviolence,
le t’s b eg in w ith ab stinence then view
this new b eh av io r as a w ay o f 'being ’.
M artin L u th er K ing rem inded us
“ n o n violence in the truest sense is not
a strategy that o ne uses sim ply b e
W e are overw helm ed b y the enor
m ity o f the problem s ‘o u t there.’ But
m aybe it’s closer to hom e than that.
W hat about the violence w e inflict on
ourselves w ith addictions?
N o addiction is healthy or life-afifiim-
ing. So w hy do we partake in self-de
structive behaviors? W hy w ould w e
trade our health, our dream s, the respect
o f our loved ones o r our inner peace for
short term gratification? It alw ays boils
dow n to dam aged self-esteem , a lack o f
self-love.W hatisyourlevelofself-love?
Reflect on w hether you are guilty o f self-
inflicted violence that m ay be harm ing
your self-esteem .Self-lovebegets peace,
self-hate begets violence. That being
the case, our lack o f self-love and con
sequently the violence that som e o f us
perpetrate on ourselves w ith addictions
isthefirstand foremost problem w e must
address in order to stop the violence on
a global level.
cause it is expedient at the m om ent;
nonviolence is ultim ately a w ay o flife
that m en live by because o f the sh eer
m orality o f its claim ."T h is isn ’t to say
th at the d isease o f ad d ictio n is im
m o ral. W hat I b eliev e M artin L uther
k in g w as saying w hen referrin g to
m o rality is this: you are m aking a
ch o ic e th at benefits hu m an ity in a
p o sitiv e w ay. L e t’s b egin this season
b y fo llo w in g the exam ple o f a great
sp iritu al leader and m ake a co m m it
m en t to ab stin en ce and no n v io len ce
to d ay , this season and every season
thereafter.
f° r
helping to lead
our communitY
Children w ho are loved
in honoring
and nurtured, w hose par
ents are physically and emo
tionally available, w ho are
not traum atized outside the
h o m e g ro w u p to have
healthy self-esteem and self-
love. T hey are not the ones
trap p ed in addictions or
threatening their fellow m an
In order to stop the vio
lence in the world, w e m ust
each address that self-de
feating dem on inside u s. W e
m ust agree to truthfully ex
am ine o ur ow n behaviors
and look at w hat substances
o r obsessions w e m ight be
abusing ourselves with.
R em em ber the com m andm ent that
M oses gave us, “Love thy neighbor, as
thyself.” Therein lies the problem . M ost
o f us d o n ’t love and honor ourselves.
H ow then could w e love and honor the
children or our neighbors'.’Developing
Others
T h e P o rtlan d O b s e rv e r
Addictions Abuse As
Violence Towards The Self
B y D enise M artin
CJQ
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I
January 18,1999
and looking
to the new millennium
n/7 S e a A o k i fo A
N o t t QJialej'bce. "
D en ise M artin
LlttMEST
self-love is the m ost im portant w ay w e
can jo in in this Season ofN onviolence.
Tranquility w ill prevail on this planet
once w e each com m it to w orking at self-
love. I w ish you peace on your journey.
“I have a dream
that my four little children
w ill one day li/ e in a nation
where they w ill not be judged
by the color of their skin,
but by the content
of their
IVe can all learn from his dream.
KOIN(i)
I
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