Among the many weapons we use to castigate the addict
or alcoholic
or other people we disapprove of - is sarsarcasm. True, it relieves our pent-up feelings and if our remarks are really pointed, gives us a certain satisfaction.
Repugnant as it is in itself, sarcasm becomes even more distasteful when we find it comes from the Greek verb "sarcazo" which means to tear flesh. It is that form of irony in which the speaker is motivated by scorn.