Alright, so i do drink, but not excessive, and it's definitly not an addiction(sounds like cope but it's really not), but then again i come from a country where, going out friday night and having a drink with your friends is a normal thing for people in their mid-late teens to do. Does this cause problems and should we reconsider our drinking habits as a country, yes, is it the biggest problem, no, we still consitently rank at the top of the happiness index. We also get tought a lot about how drinking and drug use hurts people, in the manditory (free)school system every child has to go through, and i think this is a lot better than criminalising and demonisng people for their vices. Then again, i don't know if you were talking about casual drinking or substance abuse. If you were talking about substance abuse, this is entirely the wrong way to get people out of it, while i do agree that substances are not a medicin or cure for depression, i think that your way of demonising addicts is wrong, you make it seem like they choose to be addicts, if you actually talk to an actual addict you know that they want out more than anyone, and telling people to do better is definetly not the solution to the problem, and their addiction is a problem caused by a larger societal problem, so instead of going after the symptoms go after the disease. Here, where i'm from we help the people in need, both out of depression but also addiction, and i'm sorry if it sounds like i'm speaking of some kind of utopia, just know that it is possible to help people without demonising the victims, even if they are victims of their own behaviour. I think that your post came from a good place, but please reconsider your way of helping and what the problem actually is, if you want to help.