Drug Addiction Reality

admin — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:23:34 +0000

According the Office of Supplied Studies, in a study done in 2001 (cited at bottom), an alarming percentage of US citizens are drug abusers. The reality isn’t that they all die from drug addiction. Another study done on DrugWarFact.org explains that only 17,000 people die from drug abuse yearly. This same study pointed out that about 3 million people in the US have serious drug problems.

So we have all the studies, but what do they mean? Drug abuse doesn’t kill? The reality is that drugs may destroy your life easier than end it. What you do is see the reality behind addiction. I see it as something that destroyed my life. I watched it destroy others. This piece is more a road map than a path to healthy living. It just points out what you need to know.

Understanding:
Drugs don’t kill everyone, but they do destroy many lives. The proof is simple, or seems simple-the US government has been at war with drug abuse for decades. Someone, somewhere cares about how youth lives are being destroyed.

Seeing the Reality:
The reality may be you won’t die. However, couldn’t it be said that even the basic addictions can kill you, if not immediately, but eventually? When a heroin addict uses a needle, and then passes it on, what pictures of AIDs do you see? It’s not lecture; it just means more than dieing. Your life changes as you watch the destruction.

Watching the Destruction:
It might destroy your life. You may not die: you may become homeless or insane, you may get a vicious disease, or you may lose all relationships. What matters is playing this tape all the way to the end. You will need to take action on your own soon.

Taking Action:
Taking action is about putting down the drugs. It’s a philosophy many of us can use: choosing to make the right choice. Youth addiction may be paramount, because more and more drug addicted teens are growing up in a world where you can buy a bag of weed for the price of two movies.

Making a Choice:
It’s still up to you. It’s a choice. What matters isn’t lecture, philosophy, or opinion. The drug addiction reality may seem far away. It won’t happen to you. It doesn’t kill that many people every year. Drugs only rob people of their careers, their health, and their family. The drug addiction reality is that too often people forget, only to be reminded when something bad happens.

Sources:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association,
Drug War Facts, http://www.drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm#illicit

Can You Beat Drug Abuse and Addiction by Yourself?

admin — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:11:51 +0000

Drug addiction can begin anywhere. A father uses drugs and his son or daughter sees him. A friend invites you to join them in smoking a joint. A boyfriend or girlfriend doesn’t just buy you alcohol, but also “helps” you with your pill addiction. The problem isn’t that we all understand drugs are dangerous, but that so many try to defeat drug addiction on their own.
The leading health site Mayo Clinic offered five risk factors for people who become dependent on drugs: personality, social environment, anxiety and depression, genetics, and types of drugs.
That’s only part of the story. With millions who use illegal drugs on a daily basis, there has to be more problem factors. Let’s begin by exploring personality problems.
Personality:
The rates of people who suffer from depression using drugs is considered high in both government and private studies. Simply put, this is a classic example of why people use drugs. It’s also proof to some degree that defeating drugs on your own may be too hard. If you suffer from a worse condition like schizophrenia, which already has high suicide rates, defeating drugs on your own could be impossible.
Social:
Many use drugs to fit in with a certain group. And it isn’t always the young peer groups. In many ways society is becoming more accepting of active drug users. This all depends on the person and comes down to theory. But if this is the only problem, if you only use drugs to fit in and have no mental or physical problems, it may be possible to defeat drugs. The danger is in starting you become physically addicted, especially with the harsher drugs.
Type of Drug:
Some drugs will be tougher to “kick” than others. This isn’t theory at all. Cocaine, for example, has far more addicting aspects than marijuana. On the other hand, some “legal” drugs like cigarettes or pain pills can be just as addicting to certain people. Heroin addicts, cocaine users … the type of the drug doesn’t always fit in with the personality. However, when it starts changing how you live on a daily basis, when you have to get one or you think you’ll die, the only answer is coping, medication, and the help of professional doctors. Some drugs are simply too hard to kick on your own.
So what does it all mean? This isn’t meant as a scheme of studying why we’re addicted to drugs or how to defeat them. The drug epidemic has been a problem for decades. People are still dying. But many addicts are also successfully quitting drug use, sometimes on their own. The safest bet is to seek professional help in the beginning. Or, not trying highly addictive drugs in the first place.

Say No To Pot » heroin

Drug Addiction Reality

Can You Beat Drug Abuse and Addiction by Yourself?