Drugs not bad; Addiction is bad
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Bay Area, California
Posts: 61
Drugs not bad; Addiction is bad
Greetings to all..
I am a recovering alcoholic, drug addict, and sex addict. Reguarding drugs, I have 3 years sobriety from pot, coke, ecstacy, and shrooms. I have 10 years sobriety from acid.
I gradulally quit coke, X, and shrooms but remained heavily addicted to pot, smoking about a quarter a week (@ $125 / quarter) for quite sometime.
Today I am happy to say that I am in full recovery from drugs, though I know I can never use them again; not even once.
That being said I would like to comment on a trend that I find rather disturbing in the recovery sector, which is those who demonize drugs themselves.
A few points:
1) Any drug, legal or not, is a non-entity. It cannnot think or feel. Drugs do not cause people to use them; people choose to use them initially.
2) Some people (like myself) get hooked on drugs, but others do not. Just as there are many people who can drink responsibly without becoming an alcoholic, so too are there many people who can use drugs occasionally in a responsible way without becoming addicted.
3) Arguments about drugs, especially from the various governments and pharmacutical industry are extremely inconsistent. The general argument is that: if a drug is legal, then it is "good" and if a drug is illegal, then it is "bad".
But we well know that people can become addicted to legal drugs (eg. Oxycontin, Ritalin, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Percoset, Vallium, Hallcyon, etc)
just as easily as they can to illegal drugs.
I wanted to encourage a discussion about this subject because it seems to me that blaming the drug for one's addiction is a form of denial and misdirection.
When I first got into Recovery, I spent six weeks at an in-patient facility known as The Meadows. Most rehab places have a abysmal sucess rate because they only seek to stop a person from using. Basically, anybody can go to detox and kick a habit in the short term. However, The Meadows' philosophy is that the addiction is not the problem; it is the effect of the problem.
In other words, those of us who are addicts (like myself) have an underlying issue (or issues) that we are not dealing with or simply do not know how to deal with. Therefore we turn to an outside source (eg. drugs, sex, booze, gambling, shoping, food, work, porn, relationships, etc) in order to cope with an unbearable reality.
I have certainly found this to be true in my life. My addiction to sex, relationships, pornography, drugs, and alcohol all have a common root: they have helped me to medicate my feelings rather than dealing with them.
Now, in Recovery, I am learning one day at a time to face my feelings and learn to deal with them in a healthy way.
To come full-circle with this post: one of the things I had to do was stop blaming the drug itself (or whatever means I used to medicate) for my addiction and face up to the fact that I am responsible for how I deal with my life and my feelings.
I am open to any and all feedback, positive and negative.
[Note: I realize this subject matter is controversial, and while I am interested in a discussion and exchange of ideas, I am not interested in having a debate with anyone. I am merely expressing my personal views and inviting others to do so as well.]
--Outvoid--
I am a recovering alcoholic, drug addict, and sex addict. Reguarding drugs, I have 3 years sobriety from pot, coke, ecstacy, and shrooms. I have 10 years sobriety from acid.
I gradulally quit coke, X, and shrooms but remained heavily addicted to pot, smoking about a quarter a week (@ $125 / quarter) for quite sometime.
Today I am happy to say that I am in full recovery from drugs, though I know I can never use them again; not even once.
That being said I would like to comment on a trend that I find rather disturbing in the recovery sector, which is those who demonize drugs themselves.
A few points:
1) Any drug, legal or not, is a non-entity. It cannnot think or feel. Drugs do not cause people to use them; people choose to use them initially.
2) Some people (like myself) get hooked on drugs, but others do not. Just as there are many people who can drink responsibly without becoming an alcoholic, so too are there many people who can use drugs occasionally in a responsible way without becoming addicted.
3) Arguments about drugs, especially from the various governments and pharmacutical industry are extremely inconsistent. The general argument is that: if a drug is legal, then it is "good" and if a drug is illegal, then it is "bad".
But we well know that people can become addicted to legal drugs (eg. Oxycontin, Ritalin, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Percoset, Vallium, Hallcyon, etc)
just as easily as they can to illegal drugs.
I wanted to encourage a discussion about this subject because it seems to me that blaming the drug for one's addiction is a form of denial and misdirection.
When I first got into Recovery, I spent six weeks at an in-patient facility known as The Meadows. Most rehab places have a abysmal sucess rate because they only seek to stop a person from using. Basically, anybody can go to detox and kick a habit in the short term. However, The Meadows' philosophy is that the addiction is not the problem; it is the effect of the problem.
In other words, those of us who are addicts (like myself) have an underlying issue (or issues) that we are not dealing with or simply do not know how to deal with. Therefore we turn to an outside source (eg. drugs, sex, booze, gambling, shoping, food, work, porn, relationships, etc) in order to cope with an unbearable reality.
I have certainly found this to be true in my life. My addiction to sex, relationships, pornography, drugs, and alcohol all have a common root: they have helped me to medicate my feelings rather than dealing with them.
Now, in Recovery, I am learning one day at a time to face my feelings and learn to deal with them in a healthy way.
To come full-circle with this post: one of the things I had to do was stop blaming the drug itself (or whatever means I used to medicate) for my addiction and face up to the fact that I am responsible for how I deal with my life and my feelings.
I am open to any and all feedback, positive and negative.
[Note: I realize this subject matter is controversial, and while I am interested in a discussion and exchange of ideas, I am not interested in having a debate with anyone. I am merely expressing my personal views and inviting others to do so as well.]
--Outvoid--
Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Indiana
Posts: 1,486
yeah...I believe this is why 12 step works for me....it's a spiritual program.
Using drugs is a symptom...not the nature of my disease. The mental and spiritual aspect of drug use lead me to believe if I could be ok physically I could use successfully.
I believed the lie for a while.
Some of the deepest felt spiritual experiences I had were under the influence of LSD.
Those experiences ranged from highly meaningfully connections to the universe to being afraid I'd die from fear and wouldn't make it out....only I knew the whole time I was under the influence of the drug....I waited out the storm.
Drugs aren't to blame.
My problem is me!
Missy
Using drugs is a symptom...not the nature of my disease. The mental and spiritual aspect of drug use lead me to believe if I could be ok physically I could use successfully.
I believed the lie for a while.
Some of the deepest felt spiritual experiences I had were under the influence of LSD.
Those experiences ranged from highly meaningfully connections to the universe to being afraid I'd die from fear and wouldn't make it out....only I knew the whole time I was under the influence of the drug....I waited out the storm.
Drugs aren't to blame.
My problem is me!
Missy
Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 3,335
I can only speak for me but I seriously think crack is from the devil and inherently evil. I'm crazy though. But I do have 3 1/2 years clean. And I don't want that demon in my life. My problem is me. But I still think crack is evil.
Guest
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,707
It seems I get addicted to almost anything that will bring relief.
Work - working 25-30 days in a row and not wanting to stop.
sex - not wanting to stop
dope - not wanting to stop
sleep - not wanting to wake up
internet - not wanting to stop
ebay - spending money, I shouldn't be..
all for an escape..
It seems stress and worry kick the crap out of me, and I soo want to escape.
I do find NA a big help. Being able to talk, and if I feel completely screwed, there's a hug waiting from someone for me and also someone to lean on.
..someone to pray for me and remind me to pray.
PS, Windy.. I had a fishing dream last night ... I think I caught a salmon.
Work - working 25-30 days in a row and not wanting to stop.
sex - not wanting to stop
dope - not wanting to stop
sleep - not wanting to wake up
internet - not wanting to stop
ebay - spending money, I shouldn't be..
all for an escape..
It seems stress and worry kick the crap out of me, and I soo want to escape.
I do find NA a big help. Being able to talk, and if I feel completely screwed, there's a hug waiting from someone for me and also someone to lean on.
..someone to pray for me and remind me to pray.
PS, Windy.. I had a fishing dream last night ... I think I caught a salmon.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Dayton, OH.
Posts: 879
Hey now. I was just skipping merrily, down the street, when DRUGS burst out from behind a tree and FORCED themselves upon me. Man, DRUGS ARE EVIL! They are going to get you. Going to get me. Going to get everyone. They want you to think that it's this thing called addiction. It's all part of their plan. To look innocent and make people believe they are inanimate and can do no harm..
Come on now....
Drugs are out to get me.....
Sorry. I couldn't help myself. Ya know us insane addicts. We're a bunch of nuts. Mmmm. Nuts sound good don't they? I am hungry...
Anyway, seriously, I think, in their most basic form, ALL drugs have a benefit. It's when us humans get them, we do things to make them better, faster, stronger, produce a better high, alter their chemical compounds, etc..
Like in the instance of crack, meth, and heroin. Cocaine has a benefit. The cold medicine has a benefit. Opiates have a benefit. But we misused them.
And addicts misuse a lot of things... Just how we are. It's hard, I know.. *sighs*
Just examples, and it's just my opinion. LOL.
Come on now....
Drugs are out to get me.....Sorry. I couldn't help myself. Ya know us insane addicts. We're a bunch of nuts. Mmmm. Nuts sound good don't they? I am hungry...
Anyway, seriously, I think, in their most basic form, ALL drugs have a benefit. It's when us humans get them, we do things to make them better, faster, stronger, produce a better high, alter their chemical compounds, etc..
Like in the instance of crack, meth, and heroin. Cocaine has a benefit. The cold medicine has a benefit. Opiates have a benefit. But we misused them.
And addicts misuse a lot of things... Just how we are. It's hard, I know.. *sighs*
Just examples, and it's just my opinion. LOL.
Clever Yak
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: ---
Posts: 4,360
Originally Posted by Outvoid 
In other words, those of us who are addicts (like myself) have an underlying issue (or issues) that we are not dealing with or simply do not know how to deal with. Therefore we turn to an outside source (eg. drugs, sex, booze, gambling, shoping, food, work, porn, relationships, etc) in order to cope with an unbearable reality.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,442
I know lots of people who grew up in addictive households who've never had a problem, Jay...and guys, like me, whose folks are 'normie', who did everything he could to 'alter his reality'.
My home was a bit dysfunctional, and I did have underlying issues I tried to fix with drugs and booze - but if they stem solely from my upbringing (they don't but lets go with it) why is my sister a total well balanced normie?
I have to own the choices I made.
D
My home was a bit dysfunctional, and I did have underlying issues I tried to fix with drugs and booze - but if they stem solely from my upbringing (they don't but lets go with it) why is my sister a total well balanced normie?
I have to own the choices I made.
D
Clever Yak
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: ---
Posts: 4,360
Okay, I do understand that people can live in dysfunctional families and not be an addict... I guess what I meant was that people who deal with it in unhealthy ways, but still aren't using drugs, are they setting themselves up to fall into addiction later?
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,442
The short answer is maybe...or not.
I don't know that you can apply an across the board rule to things like this...the more time I spend here Jay, the less time I spend dealing in generalities LOL.
D
I don't know that you can apply an across the board rule to things like this...the more time I spend here Jay, the less time I spend dealing in generalities LOL.
D
Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 679
My teacher who has a PhD in pharmacology and has worked with addicts for 30 years (and perhaps is himself in recovery) shares your views so you are in good company. He keeps hammering this into our heads, "remember, drugs do not an addict make." I think he has said it every class. His response to who is an addict and who is not has more to do with brain chemistry than environmental factors but that is probably because we are in a science class. His real answer I am sure would be more fleshed out because even with the brain scans no one is sure how people get there. What makes an addict? It is definitely in my mind a combination of bio-, psycho- and social factors and drugs have little to do with it. Each person usually has their preferences or none at all.
Another statistic that I recently learned was out of the people killed by drugs in the US every year the breakdown is as follows:
70% - nicotine
20% - alcohol
5% - other drugs
considering those other drugs include the abuse of legal substances, this definitely puts illegal substances into a different perspective. And along those lines as an aside, when we study drugs in class we don't really differentiate between legal and illegal except that illegal are unregulated therefore can be tainted and therefore chemically variable.
Another statistic that I recently learned was out of the people killed by drugs in the US every year the breakdown is as follows:
70% - nicotine
20% - alcohol
5% - other drugs
considering those other drugs include the abuse of legal substances, this definitely puts illegal substances into a different perspective. And along those lines as an aside, when we study drugs in class we don't really differentiate between legal and illegal except that illegal are unregulated therefore can be tainted and therefore chemically variable.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: iowa cornfields
Posts: 126
You're right. It's our abuse that makes the drugs "bad"- not the drugs themselves. Of course, I'm speaking of pills from my experiences. They do help those are really in need of them, it's just addicts like me who demonize them. Drugs aren't bad until they become fun and then they become impersonal demons.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Midland, NC
Posts: 1,266
I agree with what someone here said....CRACK IS THE DEVIL. I had done powder cocaine on and off since I was a teenager...many years ago. I really never had a problem, the feeling that I needed to snort coke every day....that nagging need.
Then, I was introduced to crack cocaine and smoked it for the first time. Then I did it again the next day....Then, I stole money from my parents, lied to get money, nearly bankrupted my family, overdosing only to keep smoking after I 'came out of it', was arrested for the first time in my life, placed in the back of a squad car and taken to jail.
All of this happened in 18 months. I spiraled down into hell because of that little white/yellow rock. It took a piece of my soul that I will never get back.
To quote Whitney Houston "Crack is Whack"...It is EVIL and it's like Lays potato chips...YOU CAN'T STOP AT JUST ONE.
Penny
Then, I was introduced to crack cocaine and smoked it for the first time. Then I did it again the next day....Then, I stole money from my parents, lied to get money, nearly bankrupted my family, overdosing only to keep smoking after I 'came out of it', was arrested for the first time in my life, placed in the back of a squad car and taken to jail.
All of this happened in 18 months. I spiraled down into hell because of that little white/yellow rock. It took a piece of my soul that I will never get back.
To quote Whitney Houston "Crack is Whack"...It is EVIL and it's like Lays potato chips...YOU CAN'T STOP AT JUST ONE.
Penny
Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 862
Well even if they do become "fun" there are still plenty of people (ie the vast vast majority) who can indulge in this fun as responsible adults without it interrupting or interfering with their life in any way.
Thank you for posting this, there is so much misinformation and silly reactionary nonsense going around (and not just on these forums) about drugs. It's nice to see that there are still people who think practically and objectively whereas most people want everything they don't like banned.
Thank you for posting this, there is so much misinformation and silly reactionary nonsense going around (and not just on these forums) about drugs. It's nice to see that there are still people who think practically and objectively whereas most people want everything they don't like banned.
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