It's a bit complex. Years ago I used to drink too much to deal with some serious issues (trauma, aftereffects, etc.)—now I'm sure you'd have sympathy and respect for what I was facing, but not the choice I made to deal with it at the time. You might have more respect for me quitting and taking a better route than someone who just won't stop. You may even have more respect for me for going back to school for counseling so I can work with addicts and help them out, rather than someone who just got clean/sober but did nothing to give back to their community. Am I more respectable for turning my problem into helping others, than someone who never had a problem but floats through life—and maybe mooches off society or does something to earn disrespect in a different regard? A lot of society wouldn't think so. We're still kind of teetering between disincentivizing addiction through shame and the philosophy of removing the stigma so that getting help isn't a label or a social/career/etc. death sentence. This isn't about them having better, softer and fuzzier social consequences, it's about removing obstacles and reservations they might have in order to save their life. Shaming, losing respect for, or value-judging an addict is using a conscience tactic to fight a now-chemical problem. Many addicts are as guilty and repentant as we would like them to feel, but that's half the battle obviously. I don't blame you for having the view that you do for someone who clearly made a poor decision...an ounce of prevention, you know. But between chronic pain patients who have been overmedicated by their doctors, to sad drinkers, to junkies who chose the wrong crowd—there are tons of factors, none of which preclude recovered addicts from getting their respect and dignity back. I've met lawyers, artists, teachers, otherwise good parents, athletes, etc. who are great people, mediocre people, selfish people, and other things in between. It's the immersion of people who all have a common problem that makes me size them up on a different plane, I guess.