Chasing The Dragon Analysis

In the March 27th viewing of “Chasing the Dragon” with guest speaker Neil Morgenstern, retired DEA agent. In the showing of “Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict,” many stories where shared from first person addicts and family members of addicts. Before the screening of the film, Morgenstern shared some interesting facts on the first lady, Nancy Reagan, and her support to end drug addiction. Through her support of the cause, the phrase “just say no” was created and implemented. Following the explanation of “just say no,” Morgenstern recruited the PSYC2130 class and others present to create a Lincoln List. The Lincoln List consisted of pros and cons related to opiate use, see diagram 1 for full list. The most stunning cons to me were the last two Morgenstern listed himself, free will and slavery. However, they were not explained until the end of the presentation, which I was sadly unable to stay for. Meaning, I will give my own personal explanation of free will and slavery. After watching my own brother struggle with addiction and this past week losing a family friend to addiction, I feel I have some knowledge on drug use and abuse.
One cannot function properly; concentration is slowed or hyphened, most under the influence sleep throughout the day, and during withdrawals one becomes violently sick, angry, and almost death. With these symptoms one cannot consciously make choices and act on one’s own discretions. One definition of slavery states, “excessive dependence on or devotion to something.” Meaning a substance abuse user is a slave to their addiction, they depend on the substance for “normalize” or “escape.” Nevertheless, users will do anything to receive their substance of choice, including, but not limited to, theft, rape, prostitution,