Do not compare your hobby to drug use

People with hobbies should stop calling themselves addicts and junkies, because their commitment to those activities is not comparable to someone's physical dependence on drugs.

"I'm a total adrenaline junkie," someone who likes skydiving might say.

"I'm a complete film addict," someone who likes movies might say.

"I'm such a chocolate junkie," an overweight person will tell you.

Stop saying that. The feelings you experience during your favorite activity are not interchangeable with the effects of heroin.

To see why, try putting the comparison into a different context.

"Hey," someone in this context would say, "do you want to go running with me today?"

"I don't know," you would say. "I'll think about it."

"What do you mean?" the person would say. "Running is like injecting a powerful narcotic directly into your veins."

Lots of people, for no reason, describe themselves as junkies or addicts. I used runners as an example, however, because they compare their activities to drug use more than anyone else.

They've even gone as far as to make up a condition they call a runner's high.

This is ridiculous, of course, but other people don't question it because they, like me, are too lazy to test the theory.

I think people would get annoyed with this, but they understand that runners have had to make up something exciting to accompany their otherwise boring sport.

"Wow," runners want you to think, "those guys are running and getting high at the same time."

Even if this condition did exist, running for several miles seems like a lot of effort to get high. I think I could work during the several hours it would take me to run a marathon and make enough money to buy drugs that require no movement to take effect.

Using any drug besides alcohol, however, is socially unacceptable. Drinking while running, sitting or making a telephone call, on the other hand, is both encouraged and considered hilarious in America.

"Running that marathon wasn't too bad," a popular person might tell a friend.

"Really?" the friend might say.

"Yeah," the popular person might say, "because I did it " drunk."

Anyway, people with hobbies who call themselves junkies and addicts might just need something new to do, like heroin.

- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.