Sorry, but this is a disgusting take. Addiction is well established as an illness. It's outright shameful to suggest that someone who is going through recovery is purely doing it as a grift. What you're suggesting is that we can't trust that rehabilitation is possible or reasonable, which is a deeply cruel prospect.
And I'm sure if you had your way the prisons would be empty of anyone convicted of a drug related crime because 'they and their terribly sad addictions/illnesses are the real victims'
Preston has never asked for anyone's sympathy or understanding about his past crimes. If you read his stuff, he owns it fully, is incredibly sorry. He's the first to admit that what he did had very real consequences.
Great. Now let him go sit in a jail cell and recieve his punishment, and give the dev opportunity to someone who didnt sell drugs and chose the easy route
He's never honestly admitted his crimes in public, on his blog or anywhere. He doesn't own it fully, he tries to absolve himself of ill-intent thoroughly.