I am ashamed to say that, as younger man, my thoughts on addicts could be boiled down to quite simply this: that they're degenerates, total wastes, they have nothing to offer anyone and the world would be a much better place without them.
But now, having seen a bit more of the world, having met more people, having been around the block a couple of times, and then a couple more times, and then two more times just for good measure... well, now I have a very Siddhartha-esque outlook on addicts and addiction.
I'm no longer impressed by those individuals who have never picked up a substance; they haven't learned anything, they aren't stronger for it, better for it, wiser for it. I'm more impressed by the person who drank for years and years, whose life had fallen apart but who, somehow, managed to pick themselves up and put it all back together again. It's unbelievably impressive and inspiring to me that anyone could experience such vices, such temptations, and then give them up. I think that it takes a lot, a real lot, great will power and great strength, to do something like that.