the "Warning Signs" of drug use

[shezinphx]

searching kids' rooms might force them to use drugs less in the short term,

I didn't start doing drugs until I was out of highschool and living on my own. I look back and I am extremely happy that I was forced to wait because I think in highschool you are not mature enough emotionally to be able to handle some of the drugs out there.
So if you can force your children not to use drugs then maybe that's just gets them a little further to being more mature to handle them and when they do use drugs they won't mess up their lives like they could have if they would have started to use drugs at a younger age.

 

[3v1l]

When you are younger your parents are there to create a life for you to succeed the best way possible. I have done drugs and probably will continue to do drugs but when I am a parent things will change. I won't condone the use of drugs but I will not allow them to start at a young age. I was mentally mature enough to handle drugs but that was never while living under the roof of my parents. I cannot lie and say that is not hypocritical of me but under my roof my rules apply. Enjoy living with your parents but don't abuse who they are - don't agree with them? Fine go get a job and move out BUT DON"T BITCH ABOUT THEM NOT ALLOWING **ILLEGAL** drugs in their home.

 

[Love In Vein]

**update**

About the 17 year old girl I used as an example of when parents need to step in. She was arrested this past week for possession of cocaine.

See, these things are pretty predictable.

 

[blah]

Love in vein, what exactly was the serious trouble you got into?
And what ever it was, do you take responsibility for it, or do you blame drugs?(scape goat) or was it an accident? Something like rape perhaps?

Any way, your arguements seemed to be based primarilly on personal experience,a little one sided wouldn't you say?

My own personal experiences would suggest the exact opposite from what you keep on 'suggesting'. Its one thing to be educated(brain washed) by the government propoganda(if you buy pot you support terrorists) and its another to have first hand experience.

Many experiment with drugs, from marijuana to mushrooms to cocaine. Certainly I can say with certainty, of the people I have known(hundreds) who have experimented with drugs,the vast majority of them never became hopeless addicts. In fact, that experimental phase ussually passes with no signifigant negative consequences. In other words, even though people use drugs, doesn't mean they can't practice restraint,discipline, or just common sense. So for every hundred 'experimenters' perhaps one or two may go on to develop problems related to that.

Just like people who cannot stop drinking, or drive to fast, or engage in any other potencially risky behaviour,all life carries risk.

You do sound much like an anti-drug crusader,like someone perhaps who woke up one day and found jesus and then they were saved. But meanwhile, via your spiel, you merely(good intentions aside) exacerbate the problems that drugs can cause all society. Just because you and your friends may have made 'poor choices' in your lives doesn't mean this is a reflection of society at large.

And the girl who was busted with coke, just put her in jail, that will help her huh 8)

 

[GabberKid]

Fuck, you kids cant eat pez anymore!

 

[alasdairm]

I do not know why one would even infer such a thing.

for what it's worth, i read your message the same way. your actual words were:

"As long as most parents continue to be convinced that marijuana and heroin are the same thing"

that statement reads, to me, like an arbitrary exaggeration to gain effect.

do you have figures to back up this statement that this is the view of most parents.

my hunch is that few parents truly believe that pot and heroin are "the same thing".

they may believe that the dangers of use of these two different substances are equal or, perhaps, that their use can lead to problems for the user but i can't believe that "most parents" believe they are "the same thing".

but, i have no information, it's just a hunch based on little more than common sense.

all the best

alasdair

 

[Love In Vein]

Love in vein, what exactly was the serious trouble you got into?
And what ever it was, do you take responsibility for it, or do you blame drugs?(scape goat) or was it an accident? Something like rape perhaps?

I got in trouble for allegedly counterfieting money to buy drugs.

Although I don't wish to self-incriminate myself, I can assure you that if it wasn't for drugs, I wouldn't have been allegedly counterfieting money.

I'm not blaming drugs for what I did. Drugs were just one of many factors. I was also young and didn't have a lot of life experience. I wasn't being treated for my bipolar disorder at the time. My entire outlook on life was completely unrealistic starting from around the time I was 15.

When I first got arrested, I blamed everyone but me. Mostly the Secret Service for violating my Constitutional rights and breaking the law to prove the law. Then the prosecution for trying to charge me with crimes they knew I didn't commit and illegally bringing up dropped charges during my sentencing. Then the judge for sentencing based on charges that had been dropped. And I was mad about it all while in jail and for the entire year I was on probation. Then I quit doing drugs for a little over a year and got treatment for my bipolar disorder and got my head out of the clouds and realized the only person I had to be mad at for what I did was me.

Any way, your arguements seemed to be based primarilly on personal experience,a little one sided wouldn't you say?

My opinions are based on personal experience, secondhand accounts, observation, studying, research, etc.

I happen to use personal experiences as examples because they carry more weight than saying "I read this in a book so this is the way things are".

But I have read many o' books on the subject and have a collection of them as well as having spent years supplementing with information available on the internet and discussions with both doctors and users.

In fact, that experimental phase ussually passes with no signifigant negative consequences.

Yeah, judging by your spelling, I can tell. LOL. I'm just kidding.

Anyways, I never said otherwise and I agree with you.

even though people use drugs, doesn't mean they can't practice restraint,discipline, or just common sense.

I said that.

So for every hundred 'experimenters' perhaps one or two may go on to develop problems related to that.

Well, you want to criticize me for basing my arguments on personal experience but now you're doing the same and your information is quite contradictory to statistics.

You do sound much like an anti-drug crusader,like someone perhaps who woke up one day and found jesus and then they were saved.

That's funny considering I've been high on a different drug for the last three days.

But meanwhile, via your spiel, you merely(good intentions aside) exacerbate the problems that drugs can cause all society.

Considering how many people in America have drug problems, I find it hard to believe you can sit there and tell me I've exacerbated anything.

And the girl who was busted with coke, just put her in jail, that will help her huh

Considering her age and that this is her first offense, the reality is that she's only looking at probation. In which time she'll be forced to quit drugs, get treatment and reflect upon how much her life has gone down hill since she started using drugs.

Coincidently, drug use is a large factor in many of her problems. And her drug use is probably the cause of a greater factor. And while all of her problems aren't going to be magically solved if she quits using drugs, she will have removed a factor that was exacerbating and causing more problems and may even be able to deal with the root of her problems as a result.

The bottom line is that she is not mature or responsible enough to use drugs. You could see that she was on a downhill path. Thanks to being arrested, she's at least been stopped and now stands a decent chance of going uphill.

As for just putting someone in jail/prison, I don't believe simply locking someone up helps anything. I believe it makes things worse a lot of times. I do believe people who are detrimental to society do deserve to spend some time locked up as a time out from society, but I believe all criminals need help before they are released. For as much as a person does not want to go back to prison or jail, if they haven't learned how to live right or deal with their problems, they're going to almost inevitably end up back in jail or prison. And as for drug users, I don't believe people convicted only of minor drug offenses should be put into jail or prison. More than anything, they're harming themselves and if they're such a problem that they need a time out from society, they should be in in-patient rehab.

And as for rehab, in-patient or out-patient, I believe that drug rehabilitation programs in this country need to be seriously improved. As they are now, I believe they're largely inadequate.

As for programs like NA and AA, I believe they're complete jokes. They don't teach anyone how to deal with their problems. And they force people to become co-dependant.