MaryGoRound

Maybe this belongs in the other f&f section, but if you know someone is dealing say X and weed, is it worth it to submit a tip? I don't know, it was interesting ethical question I've been asking myself for awhile now. What do u guys think?

KeepPedaling

That's a tough one. Is he dealing to friends or on the playground? Would your safety be in danger?

ElegantlyWasted

For me the ethics part of it would include... What tangible benefit would I, my loved ones and society gain by turning him/her in. If it is a societal issue it becomes murkier. Drugs are so readily available even I can lock them up for awhile. I have a very libertarian in my social views.... If someone willingly wishes to consume a substance that may potentially harm them, who am I to judge unless it puts me or society in general in danger. Pushing drugs on kids is of course another matter. My suggestion is figure out your own cost benefit analysis and act accordingly. If the guy was trying to sell to my underage or young child I would, if only selling to stock broker party boys that seem to party responsibly; no worries.

KeepPedaling

Ya, what Elegantly elegantly said! Exactly!

MaryGoRound

Yes I do agree, for the most part.

Well, if something's illegal..its still illegal. That's where I'm a bit different. I can relate to your logic. Ha, maybe I'm just a lil prudie...I'm not really into drugs and hate everything about them.

MaryGoRound

to add, after dealing with an Addict, I just really simple cannot stomache the whole drug culture...ugh it honestly just makes my heart sink.

LaTeeDa

Is it just 'someone' or is it your ex? And if it is your ex, would you do the same if it was just a random 'someone?'

L

threegirls

good question

Hammerhead

In the course of a day... and IF someone... anyone mentions drugs to me... I tell them "I am the most uncool person you'll ever meet... and I do not want to hear about it".

It's amazing the look on their face.... I do not care what people think about MY view on drugs... and be certain that IF they ask me... I have no problem telling them MY VIEW.

BEFORE my experience with exah... I knew drugs existed... I had even hung out with some rock-n-rollers from the past... but UNTIL YOU LIVE with drugs and the consequences... no one really understands.

Can we codies save the world from addicts? Nope.... but we can stand firm in our beliefs and pray that others are spared the hectic and chaotic road that we here at sober recovery have all experienced.

My two cents worth.

thequest

I can relate to this. I know someone who says they know someone who deals-but only to their friends or people they know. I love the piece of crap line- 'only to friends'. Should that line be considered an excuse or a lie to how much they're acutally dealing?

What makes me even more nervous is the 'dealer' and other person have talked rather frankly about the human growth hormone & steroids and their "past" use of cocaine,pot and miscellaneous pills.

I know 'tipping' the police was mentioned but I've tried using those anonymous hotlines in the past and they still try to get into specifics which could comprimise your identity. They need enough information to make sure a crime is being committed.

thequest

My biggest concerned with the potential dealer is that they might try to use you to make a deal to the point where you have legal responsibility. That's why I think it's very important to make sure any potential dealer or user knows you dislike for the whole illegal drug culture let alone the drug or alcohol abuse.

We have a family member who has made a financial mess for himself who loves to make excuses. I'm worried he might very well take up somekind of dealing. He keeps on downplaying the dealing of his aquantices and brags he knows mafia types and talks about his gambling-all this is unsolicited. We know he lies and withholds information so I wouldn't be surprised if he does or starts to deal-he'll look at it as a 'favor'-he want's blind loyalty.

MaryGoRound

Yeah ya no, its pretty sad..the whole system and how it all works. No one cares about small time dealers esp. in big cities, but the small time dealers are still the ones that kill cousins, sisters, brothers, etc. Sure there is a difference btw dealing pot occasionally off your surplus supply or whatever. But when you have 100 pills of X and you're looking to deal them....I did what I believe is best and I'm still not sure exactly how I would feel about if something were to really happen.

Yeah it is my ex I'm talking about, but I was just kind of putting it out there for debate in terms of social responsibility and ethics..Of course I realize part of me still does harbor disgust for this person and I do want this person to pay in some way for being so being a menace to both me and society. I can laugh at myself at how that's sort of spinning things in order to still make something happen for someone else. This "codependency" is a shape shifter in some ways. To some degree, its still his life I need to stay out of IN EVERY WAY, but its also a grander scheme that needs to be dealt with. Its very sick and sad. Maybe I should devote myself to some type of setting to help the cause or whatever in some way that isn't connected to him AT ALL.

Ugh so maybe I'm going through a different stage of acceptance, where its not really about what he has done to me, but what drugs/alcohol do to the world...Btw the death in the family and letting someone go, my strong morals are just amplified. I'm not an inflexible person or not able to cut people slack...my heart just breaks everytime drugs and alcohol are in movie, the news, etc. Its not glamorous. Its real people out there everyday who need to sell to get by and in turn, get more and more people hooked.
LOL, is anyone in here an INFP on the myers brigg? I can't help it. I'm devoted to idealism views

I made some new friends, whom don't really believe in indulging either which was a huge relief because I started to really associate ALL creative people with drug/alcohol use. Thank god, I really lost hope that there were no creative, intelligent, drug free, urban individuals left!

MaryGoRound

also, i've sort of taken my head out of the sand myself after being fed so much garbage and believing it and now removing myself to have a brain of my onw and realized that this xabf is not just alcoholic who ocassionaly snorts xanax or someone gowing through some sort of psuedoadolescent phase.

I've come to the slow and horrifying realization this person is not only an alcoholic, but a serious drug user and dealer. Possibly even crack.

The shock of internalizing this realization maybe has lead to some sort of version of a small scale anti drug crusade on my part. my bad! LOL.

Its sooooo horrifying. And I'm glad I'm no longer being sucked in via pity parties, and semi-sweet gestures and lines. *Shakes head* ugh. yuck, yuck, yuck.

Freedom1990

Exactly.

Coming from the underbelly of the world of addiction and having been married to a dealer (now deceased), I'd suggest walking very carefully.

I've seen things that would scare the cheese out of most people. MY EXAH did his best to shield me from a lot of that, but he couldn't keep me out of all of it.

There's an old saying that "snitches end up in ditches."

It does happen.

It's a very ugly and sometimes violent lifestyle.

KeepPedaling

Drugs and alcohol are no big deal, no real danger, to non-addicts. Are drugs and alcohol to blame for addiction? I don't think so. I think having a glass of wine is great. I don't hate wine. I'm not an addict. I don't hate drugs. I'm not an addict. I hate addiction because it ruins lives. I don't think drugs and alcohol ruin lives.

Duped

I'm with you - they make my skin crawl, especially cokeheads. They are the lowest of the low IMO.'

My ex was into blow, booze, pills, and likely crack, although she denies it.....which basically says to me, yeah, you did crack as well honey.

Freedom1990

Interesting point of view.

So how far along are you in your recovery and cleaning your side of the street?

I think a lot of people make the judgment that IV drug users are the lowest of the low. I understand that because I know prior to recovery how ridiculously judgmental I was on a lot of things.

I am a recovering IV drug user/alcoholic. I am also a recovering codependent.

So, prior to recovery, did that make me lower than low, and now I'm not low?

Prior to recovery, did that make me a bad person and now I'm a good person?

Just some food for thought...no response necessary.

Duped

Well, I don't know about IV drug users, so I can't answer that.

However I have had run ins with cocaine and crackheads and I don't care for them and yes I am judgmental of them. Yes, I most certainly am judgmental of them, rightly or wrongly, enough to not want them in my life.

If they get out of it - more power to them, I would admire anyone who beat that crap. But should they beat it, and still go on treating others ****-poorly - well, I do have a problem with that.

Keep in mind, I am coming from someone who is not fully recovered, my outlook may have changed once I have healed more.

Impurrfect

(((Marygoround)))

I was one of those ((Duped)) calls "the lowest of the low" - a crackhead. No offense taken, BTW. Everyone I hung around was a dealer.

They got locked up on a regular basis...usually got out the same day. They sold crack and weed...usually in pretty good amounts. Also knew some meth dealers, which carries a much higher penalty. They didn't stay in jail long, either...jails are overcrowded.

Like everyone says...put one of them away, there were MANY more to take their place. And yes, snitches DO end up in ditches. Though I never saw anyone get killed, I saw some getting beaten pretty darned bad.

With 3 years of recovery under my belt, I HATE addiction. I hate what it does to the addict, I hate what it does to their loved ones.

However, I stay out of it and I stay away from it. The only time I've called a tip line is when I read of a woman who got raped in my old town and the description of the guy was someone who had raped me years before, when I was on the streets...my first time "out" as it turned out. Karma police did their job....he's in jail for a very long time. I have no idea if my tip had anything to do with it, but my motives were clear. It wasn't about ME...I wanted that **** off the streets so he couldn't hurt another woman (the woman he raped was NOT in the "business", BTW).

Hugs and prayers!

Amy

Duped

You're not wrong in that assessment. I suppose my ex keeps doing nasty things to me however she can, and it piles on the resentment. When really I should realise that she can only hurt me if I let her. However, she does use our daughter as a weapon against me at any and all times, a tough thing to look past, because I certainly do not do the same.

As a former crack user you are a rare person who recovered. I've lost swathes of friends in my life to that drug and cocaine. Bucketloads.

I wonder if I am passing the buck onto her with regard to my own anger at myself.