Drug usage

[Serenity]

Alright because I didn't want to turn the thread in the Chronicle into a debate, I decided to move here. My question has several parts:


If you found out a close friend or family member died of an OD, would you be resentful of them?

If you found out a close friend or family member was currently on drugs, would you disassociate yourself from them to keep drugs completely out of your life, or would you try to help them get over their habit?

If you found out a close friend or family member was currently on drugs and refused to even attempt to get clean, would you diassociate yourself from them or keep your relationship with them? If you remain in contact with them, would you just let them live with their decisions or constantly try to convince them to try and quit?

[Sapphire]

If you found out a close friend or family member died of an OD, would you be resentful of them?

No, I wouldn't. If anyone does OD (I'm assuming this was intentional) then they were obviously in a lot of emotional pain. I would probably be angry with myself for not seeing it or being there for them when they needed me.
If it was unintentional then I would probably be angry with them for being so stupid.

If you found out a close friend or family member was currently on drugs, would you disassociate yourself from them to keep drugs completely out of your life, or would you try to help them get over their habit?

I would try hard to get them to get the help they need to get off of the drugs.

If you found out a close friend or family member was currently on drugs and refused to even attempt to get clean, would you diassociate yourself from them or keep your relationship with them? If you remain in contact with them, would you just let them live with their decisions or constantly try to convince them to try and quit?

It depends on who they are, the drug really, why they are doing it and how often they do it.

With friends who are occassionally using weed (purely recreational - not to make themselves happy or whatever) I would just let them get on with it.
With anything harder than that then I would do the following. If, even after all my efforts to help them, they refuse to help themselves I would give them an ultimatum. Either they actively seek help or I'll sever all ties I have with them. I don't have to stand there and watch people I care about self-destruct because they are too lazy, stupid or whatever to seek help.

With a family member I would stick by them no matter what. I would give them space to make their own mistakes and remind them that they can get help and that I am there for them. I would probably throw out any of their drugs I find.

[Doc.]

As a former drug user myself, this is a story all too familiar to me. In fact it was only last month my friend Kevin over dosed on pills. Sonoma (spelled wrong?) I do believe it was, 105 milligrams each and he took nine of them. Along with his regular medicine, which was 27 milligrams. I know this because on the bus he asked me to add up how many milligrams it was. Ironically enough, he asked because he worried he would OD. However, I thought his tolerance was enough that he could handle it. Seeing is he's been doing pills for four years, so I said he would be fine. He wasn't though, luckily he was alright since he over dosed at school and he got to the hospital quickly. He is still my friend and he still smokes pot, does pills and some other more hard core drugs.

He has also been asked to stop doing drugs and get help several times but has refused, that's his choice though. I wouldn't force him to do anything, just like when I used to do drugs; if I was with someone who didn't smoke pot and I was, I wouldn't force them to do it. I wouldn't encourage it either I would just say "ok that's cool," or something like that. That's how me and my other drug using friends (former and present) work. It's their choice to start, and it's their choice to stop. I would never force anyone to do something like that. Regardless of the outcome, if they're good people at heart then I would still remain friends with them regardless.

[Octo22]

I agree 100% with forever a fighter, however when it comes to harder drugs I'd just have to ask why they're doing them.

There's a big difference between addiction and expirementation. I have a few friends who do acid to 'expirement' with scenarios and they keep logs and are actually studying results. They're not coked out addicts, so why interfere?

[Kaleidoscope Eyes]

If you found out a close friend or family member died of an OD, would you be resentful of them?

I'd feel like it was waste of their life, that it sucked that they couldn't enjoy it because of one mistake, but I wouldn't resent them. I've learned firsthand that resentment after a death causes major guilt. We have to learn to forgive and forget. I'd become less tolerant of others doing drugs, I'm sure, but I'd learn to be glad that the friend/family member no longer has to deal with a drug problem.

If you found out a close friend or family member was currently on drugs, would you disassociate yourself from them to keep drugs completely out of your life, or would you try to help them get over their habit?

Actually, my boyfriend does drugs. Just weed, and just on occasion, though he has done the harder stuff in the past and chooses to stay away from it, he hates it. When I first found out he did weed, I was so scared for his health. But I've done my own research, and there is actually no real evidence that weed is bad for you AS LONG AS YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE WITH IT. That makes a huge difference, responsibility. There are people who smoke just to get high, just to get so stoned that they forget everything. My boyfriend does it just to clear his head. He has an undiagnosed mental disorder (it's undiagnosed because his parents refuse to take him to a doctor), and just about 1/32 of a gram per week or two helps it become more manageable and less bothersome. I've asked him not to do much more than that though, not to let himself really get stoned, at least not on a regular basis. I worry about him, being so far away. He understands my concerns and he's willing to do that, which helps me not to have to worry so much. Just talking to him, looking at him, after he's smoked, I can't even tell a difference unless he tells me. But he feels a difference in his head, a good difference. So I'm willing to let it go.

If you found out a close friend or family member was currently on drugs and refused to even attempt to get clean, would you diassociate yourself from them or keep your relationship with them? If you remain in contact with them, would you just let them live with their decisions or constantly try to convince them to try and quit?

First I'd look at what drugs they're on, how often they do them, and what the risks look like. Pretty much any drug problem has a lot of risks, medically and legally, but I'd look at what they are exactly and how severe they may be. Recreational use is better but it has to be under control, and they have to be fine with being without their drug of choice for however long. Basically, it can't control their life. If they're not controlled by it and they can prove this to me, I'll be cool with it. If it becomes a problem I'll be right back on their case. If they refuse to even back off a bit, that's where I'd want to step in. Organize an intervention and get them into rehab, or counseling. I would never just leave someone with a problem that could potentially ruin their life. Once it gets to the point of addiction it's no longer a choice, it's a disease, and people who are diseased often need help to recover. I know they're going to say "I don't want to go to rehab, I'm fine." But I wouldn't let that stop me, I'd keep trying. I won't FORCE them, but I'll try my hardest to show them that I want them to get help because I care about them, not because I just don't like drugs. If they are let out of rehab, supposedly addiction free, and go back to drugs, I'd be reluctant to help them again unless they asked me to. There's only so much one can do for another before it becomes a burden, especially when they don't want help. If I've given them help before and they chose to ignore it, I don't know if I want to help them again.