Making choices

Amy Winehouse passed away yesterday at the young age of 27.  It is assumed that she died of an overdose.  When the news got out I posted that it was a shame, but I was not shocked.
Who would have ever thought it would start so much controversy?
It has come to light that in making the statement that I was not surprised that she died, apparently I am being judgmental and disrespectful to the dead and her family and friends.  That was not my intent at all.  It was mentioned that as someone who has been in the CHD world, I should know better, and I should not say things like that.
It's not the same.  Not at all.  My daughter, and the countless others who have battled a heart defect, did not choose this.  They did not ask for their vital organs to give out on them.  They did nothing that would bring on such an awful rollercoaster of medications, doctors' visits, operations, and the like.
People who drink and do drugs have a choice.  For whatever reason, they pick up the bottle/needle/pipe/pills and subject their body to poison.  Maybe it's heartless of me to say so, but I really have a hard time feeling bad for addicts.  I pray for them.  I hope they find healing.  I have cried as my own friend was laid to rest at 16 years old after a night of horrible decisions.  But I don't feel bad, per se.  I don't care what the excuse is.  What you are running from, who pressured you to do it.  There really is no reason on Earth to even start.  There are plenty of people in this world who have faced horrible, awful, dysfunctional, dangerous lives and didn't turn to substances to try to fill the void.  My husband's early childhood was terrible.  Some of the things that happened to him would make you sick to your stomach.  But he simply chose to use that as a foundation to be better than that.
Amy Winehouse was someone's daughter.  She was someone's love, someone's friend.  A phenomenally talented artist gone way too soon.  We don't know what demons she lived with, and where her mind was or was not.  But at the end of the day, she was an addict.  Just like my friend who died 11 years ago.  The hurt he left behind for so many will never go away. 
I pray that Amy is at peace now with the Lord.  That she has found solace and comfort, and is free from whatever haunted her during her short life on Earth.
But please, don't ever tell me that it's like what CHD families go through when they lose a child.  Alcoholism and drug addiction is not something you are born with.  It's something terrible.  It's sad.  It takes too many lives way too soon.  And maybe the reason why it does is so that God can relieve them of their pain in the only way that He knows will truly work.  I don't know, I am but one person and cannot delve into the reasoning of the world.  But one thing I do know for sure: when you live the drug and alcohol lifestyle to the fullest, you really can't be surprised when it comes back around on you and those you love with brutal and unforgiving force.  The saddest part is that when drugs and alcohol take over, the mind becomes too clouded to realize it.