Today’s National Fruitcake Day. I didn’t know that there was such a day. Did you?

Fruitcake has a bad reputation. We’ve all heard the jokes about it, how heavy it can be and how people give it to others, although not too many people seem to like it.

I’m one of those people who don’t care for it much, although I’ve heard that homemade fruitcake can be quite good. Maybe fruitcake needs some good public relations people to promote it.

Speaking of reputations, drug addiction often carries its own reputation. People are often quick to give bad reputations to people who suffer from drug addiction.

A lot of this seems to do with ignorance. If people don’t know about something, they might be quick to label it. Labeling and unthinking judgment are certainly easier and quicker than taking the time to learn about other things and other people. Learning might involve research, weighing evidence, comparing different sides of something—all processes that require time, effort, and thought.

Drug addiction is also complicated. It affects people in so many different ways. Researchers who have spent their entire careers researching drug addiction still don’t know all there is to know about drug addiction. When it comes to drug addiction, we still can’t state a lot of things with certainty. The unknowns might make people scared, angry, or unwilling to explore the issue further. They might think that it’s easier to assign bad reputations to drug addicts.

But we have learned some things about drug addiction. One of the major findings is that drug addiction and alcohol abuse are diseases, much like mental illnesses. Giving bad reputations to people who suffer from these conditions doesn’t do anyone any good. Helping them find treatment does. Medical treatment can help people with cancer or asthma. It can also help people who abuse drugs and alcohol.