I recently watched a TED Talk the other day. It was called, “Everything You Know About Addiction is Wrong." This talk really hits home for me because I know people in my life that I love very dearly that have gone through this problem. As I was watching this talk I kept hearing words that I completely agreed with and tried to tell other people in my life. I think that the United States should do what Portugal did with their drug problem, they decriminalized drugs and instead of putting the drug addicts in prison they put that money into other things to help the addict better their lives. They were able to give them small loans and create job fairs for them so that they could get back on their feet.

It made a good environment for them to get over their addiction. As Johann was talking he said that one of the reasons why people become drug addicts is because they lose their connection to things around them in their life and with the people in their life. So they connect with the drugs so that they have something in their life. And he was talking about how we have to connect with these people instead of acting like they are criminals. We need to help them instead of punishing them.

I know how hard it is for people who have addicts in their life, but you just have to love them. They are so important to our lives and they matter so much. It really opened my eyes on how we were looking and treating addicts wrong. I loved this TED Talk, it showed me so much about life period. It was very eye opening.

It made me think about the people in my life differently, in a good way. And I am very thankful that I watched the video because it made me rethink things and to see things in a new perspective. This video meant a lot to me because it gave me a lot to think about.

I love the people in my life that have had this type of problem. They are some of the best people I know. They mean the world to me and I don’t want to lose them, or have them feel any worse then they already do.

When you help them, sometimes they don’t take it and are not grateful for it. But eventually one day they will be. They need you so much and need your support and connections. They need our help. We need to not abandon them, they need the love and support we can give.