Francesca Sinacori's pain must be unbearable. I honestly understand that. Her son was a student at University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was 20 years old. In October of 2013 his body was found in his apartment. He died of a heroin overdose. The mother is suing not only the other student who gave him the drug, but also the school for $1 million and $5 million respectively.

She says the school had a duty to inform her of her son's illicit drug use. And they clearly knew of his involvement as he became an informant for campus police after he was caught with drugs. That cooperative arrangement was made as a way to avoid his own charges. But in the end, her son Eric would not have died that day had he not made the decision to use heroin. Nothing else really matters.

At some point we as a society have gotten away from personal responsibility. Now it's at the point that we don't even question it. An alcoholic? Well he can't help it, he has a disease. Suing the bartender for what you do after you leave the joint? Sure, why not? Couldn't possibly be your fault that you're of legal drinking age and chose to have too much of a legal product. I feel the same about these heroin cases. Don't get me wrong, these are all tragedies. Heroin is destroying lives and insidiously takes over a person. But ultimately, after all the finger pointing, each time a person does heroin it was a choice they made. To blame that choice on a drug dealer who sold it, or a friend who supplied it, or a school for not telling the parents of a 20-year-old man is just too easy. Just as easy as saying it wasn't really cheating because you were drunk at the time. Or like me saying I'm fat because of the insulin I'm on for my disease. That would be the easy half-story, because the truth is I'm simply not finding the discipline to do what's necessary to get around that extra hurdle. My fault. No one else's. No lawsuits. It's all me.

So you see, I don't say this from a point of malice or judgement, but rather a point of logic. We can't truly address our problems without looking at them for what they really are. Blaming others for your choices and filing lawsuits erodes the personal responsibility that in the end is our only hope.

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