I need advice from former meth addicts!!!

[Antidote Man]

I have always been under the impression that once you're a meth head, thats it. Like crack heads. Because of what it takes to keep the addiction going it alters the users personality to that of a fast hustler, a thief, raging demon, willing to do things they never would if they weren't addicted..

Then again... I know heroin addicts that have recovered, harder to get off of. They eventualy returned to a more natural state, many of them are still alcoholics and potheads but the opiate demon is gone.. Shit, I know people who have never used drugs that are more evil than any meth head I'v ever met.

I'm an East Coaster so I was never around meth. In Cally it was everywhere, shocked me. I drank way too much for well over ten years and stopped cold turkey, no problem. Cigarettes were harder but I did also. Aside from mild brain damage and recurrent mental illness symptoms I'm fairly normal.

I also did have a very short time girlfriend in San Diego, years ago, that was a former meth addicit. But only a minor one. She was using it on and off for six months before going to rehab and quitting..

I think its that simple.. the longer the addiction, the lesser prognosis of it being put to a halt.

 

[ooof-da]

addiction sucks. The holidays are harder for addicts. My heart goes out to all afflicted with this disease.

RIP nick I love you.

 

[Herb & Suds]

I have always been under the impression that once you're a meth head, thats it. Like crack heads. Because of what it takes to keep the addiction going it alters the users personality to that of a fast hustler, a thief, raging demon, willing to do things they never would if they weren't addicted..

Then again... I know heroin addicts that have recovered, harder to get off of. They eventualy returned to a more natural state, many of them are still alcoholics and potheads but the opiate demon is gone.. Shit, I know people who have never used drugs that are more evil than any meth head I'v ever met.

I'm an East Coaster so I was never around meth. In Cally it was everywhere, shocked me. I drank way too much for well over ten years and stopped cold turkey, no problem. Cigarettes were harder but I did also. Aside from mild brain damage and recurrent mental illness symptoms I'm fairly normal.

I also did have a very short time girlfriend in San Diego, years ago, that was a former meth addicit. But only a minor one. She was using it on and off for six months before going to rehab and quitting..

I think its that simple.. the longer the addiction, the lesser prognosis of it being put to a halt.

Obviously you never visited Maine, Pennsylvania, …
East coaster yeah right

as far as heroin addicts I bet you knew plenty who were actually functioning addicts

 

[Antidote Man]

I've been to Maine, my family had a house at the northern tip... Eastport. I've been to Penn also.. boring form Pitts to Philly. Philly has good vietnamese food. Better than their steak sandwiches.

I know some functional baseheads, but only a couple.

Im a New Yorker, you most likely wouldn't like me anyhow..

I dont know what else to say to you sir.

 

[xtsho]

I have always been under the impression that once you're a meth head, thats it. Like crack heads. Because of what it takes to keep the addiction going it alters the users personality to that of a fast hustler, a thief, raging demon, willing to do things they never would if they weren't addicted..

Then again... I know heroin addicts that have recovered, harder to get off of. They eventualy returned to a more natural state, many of them are still alcoholics and potheads but the opiate demon is gone.. Shit, I know people who have never used drugs that are more evil than any meth head I'v ever met.

I'm an East Coaster so I was never around meth. In Cally it was everywhere, shocked me. I drank way too much for well over ten years and stopped cold turkey, no problem. Cigarettes were harder but I did also. Aside from mild brain damage and recurrent mental illness symptoms I'm fairly normal.

I also did have a very short time girlfriend in San Diego, years ago, that was a former meth addicit. But only a minor one. She was using it on and off for six months before going to rehab and quitting..

I think its that simple.. the longer the addiction, the lesser prognosis of it being put to a halt.

I did a couple years smoking the rock. My flavor of choice was Cocaine back when you could get the good stuff. Spent a couple years smoking the rock. I worked and had my own apartment, car, etc... It never kept me from taking care of what needed to be done but it took everything else. I wasn't walking the streets trying to score a bag. I would buy enough to sell and make enough profit to have some for myself for free.

It sucked. Going to work some mornings having been up all night taking hits. I remember going home at lunch from work to rock some up. The people I was around and the things I saw made me sick. I was disgusted with the lifestyle. One morning I woke up and said to hell with this shit. Haven't touched that crap since and never will.

The thing is that some people can't walk away. No matter what they will always go back. It is what it is.

I'm sure glad I changed my life 30 years ago. If I hadn't I wouldn't have had a life.

 

[Antidote Man]

Oh the coke hangovers. The worst. I did some coke in my mid twenties, the smell of it, bleach, whatever that smell is... makes me sick.

Cigarettes are the hardest to quit. Its like your days air supply goes down as you progress - i was smoking a pack of day for years before I gave it up.

Paying a company to swap out clean air for those noxious cancer vapors. All those needless trips to the store. And the smell on clothing..

All that's gone. Putting two fingers to my face over and over again. Using the common bond of smoking to make friends with strangers..

Gone...

In fact, I did it with my imaginary cigarette. I would go through the motions, imagine the taste of the smoke... it worked..

I wish death on big tobacco. Brilliant, evil thieves.

 

[thefullspectrum]

Covid and the internet age has not helped anybodies mental health. Addiction is classed as a disease but not sure I agree with that. It was a culmanation of many things going/gone to shit as life does. Then some poor choices in my case. I can only tell of my experience.

I spent 18 weeks in a voluntary rehab last year. This particular program takes up to 18 months to fully complete and of those it seems many then work in the industry afterward.

A lifetime of bad habits doesn't disappear in 30 days. I had a 15 year opiate and alchohol addiction. The rehab population was at least 40% meth user aged 20 - 35 (Australia) Underneath our substance of choice we were all the same.

Everything is ran on strict timelines with total accountability by everyone. Many personality clashes and mediation sessions. Big brother in a rehab would be something very special that even I'd watch and I hate that reality crap. There was hidden love affairs and all. Not allowed.

Addicts need real human connection and a routine to help beat the 'Disease'. Gained by:

7am, room cleaned, dressed ready to go .......9pm bed. Cop hours to work off in your spare time on weekends as punishment for breaking rules.
No phones or internet. No contact with the out side world. Alone only when asleep.
Daily job function. kitchen, house keeping, admin, maintenence/development.
Group and private therapy sessions, often emotional, always boring.

Many new arrivals left within a few hours of check in after all the rules and expectations sank in. Especially the younger generation also addicted to their phones. They don't tell you any of this on the brochures. lol. One of the main goals of the program is to learn to be comfortable... Being uncomfortable!

I believe some therapeutic communities actually work if you commit and work the program. No higher power bullshit like AA & NA. Not for me.

 

[Budget Buds]

One of the main goals of the program is to learn to be comfortable... Being uncomfortable!

that's the secret to getting off of any drug......

 

[Dreaming1]

The worst part about it is everyone and everything is a means to an end with addicts. Meth seems to make users think they're outsmarting everyone.
The worst part about addiction is when it starts off as a party and then the party ends. I get escapism as a coping mechanism. God bless the poor souls who need an escape in this life. Better off to not know what you're missing with some stuff.
These substances are powerful medicines, and need to be respected. Only getting clean offers a chance to walk away and it is very hard to stay that way. There are no easy answers and a lot of negative outcomes.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

I just wanted to apologize to you @cindysid .

When I posted that stupid meme I hadn't read the full thread. When I just actually read your posts fully I realized my post was in poor taste. I'm not insensitive and hope you understand. I made a bad joke in the wrong thread. Sorry.

Hope you understand. Merry Christmas.

 

[cindysid]

I just wanted to apologize to you @cindysid .

When I posted that stupid meme I hadn't read the full thread. When I just actually read your posts fully I realized my post was in poor taste. I'm not insensitive and hope you understand. I made a bad joke in the wrong thread. Sorry.

Hope you understand. Merry Christmas.

No problem my friend. Merry Christmas!

 

[natureboygrower]

No problem my friend. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Cindy

 

[MyBallzItch]

The money spent on government subsidies for treatment should be spent on prevention programs starting at an early age. You can spend all the money in the world on treatment programs that have a terrible success rate or you can spend that money to prevent the next generation from ever becoming an addict.

I'm going to make an analogy and I don't care if anyone sees any relation.

You have an automobile. If you take care of it early on by changing the oil regularly to PREVENT any damage to the engine it can run without problems for 200,000 miles. If you take the same automobile and don't take care of it early on waiting until the oil no longer provides the necessary lubrication parts of the engine start to break down you may have to replace bearings and other components. You replace one bearing but in a short time another bearing will go that will need to be replaced. Replace that and then something else is going to break down later because the damage was done early on in the engines life.

Look at those continued failures of the engine as a relapse with and addict. The damage has already been done and breakdowns are going to continue to occur for the life of the engine while the engine that was taken care of early on is still functioning properly. Which is why the only way we get a handle on addiction is by focusing on the young and doing everything possible to prevent them from becoming addicts in the first place. This "after the fact" lets get them clean has been a failure. More money is spent every year on treatment yet the addiction rate continues to go up. That pretty much says it all.

Prevention is the key. Treatment works for just a small fraction of those already addicted. And with states doing ridiculous things like Oregon decriminalizing hard drugs like Meth, Heroin, and Cocaine for personal use all they're doing is making things worse. Now instead of getting locked up in jail long enough to get clean they get a ticket and just find a more secluded location to stick that needle in their arm or bake that glass pipe.

Prevention starts early on. It should start in grade school. Children should see images of addicts on the streets from Portland Oregon to Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia early on so they're exposed to what could happen to them. If it scares them then good. You want them to be sacred because that's what will keep them from doing it in the first place.

After decades of failed focus on treatment it's time we focused 100% on prevention. In the decades of a focus on treatment more people have become addicts that would not have had more focus been devoted to prevention.

Focus on treatment has been a failure. It's time to do it right and prevent it.

There's a product called Preen which is used to prevent weed seeds from sprouting. Some use that instead of dealing with the weeds later on. Prevent the seeds from sprouting to begin with.

Lol so you're saying if you saw crackheads when you were a kid it would have kept you from sucking a glass dong all those years you did? A lot of people give in to temptation just like you did. Treatment is the only option because people have been doing drugs and drinking as long as there have been drugs to do.

In the US we have had a decades long war on drugs. Billions and billions, maybe trillions of dollars spent on prevention and incarceration and yet here we are with more addicts today even after decades of the "prevention" that you talk of. Treatment has only been spoken around here after the opiate issue started to after the opiate issue started to affect suburban white folks.

You managed to get your car going in the right direction even after years of being a crackhead.. good for you. Now let's help the others who are currently in the situation that you were in 30 years ago

 

[xtsho]

Lol so you're saying if you saw crackheads when you were a kid it would have kept you from sucking a glass dong all those years you did? A lot of people give in to temptation just like you did. Treatment is the only option because people have been doing drugs and drinking as long as there have been drugs to do.

In the US we have had a decades long war on drugs. Billions and billions, maybe trillions of dollars spent on prevention and incarceration and yet here we are with more addicts today even after decades of the "prevention" that you talk of. Treatment has only been spoken around here after the opiate issue started to after the opiate issue started to affect suburban white folks.

You managed to get your car going in the right direction even after years of being a crackhead.. good for you. Now let's help the others who are currently in the situation that you were in 30 years ago

You're funny. I don't believe in the same failed treatment nonsense you do so jump to name calling. Since you obviously don't know much about drugs I'll explain the difference between a crackhead and someone that used cocaine like myself. A crackhead buys crap off the street cut with all kinds of stuff, steals, doesn't work, etc... I bought real cocaine, and turned it into freebase myself. I also always kept a job, had my own apartment, car, etc... I was never in whatever situation you think I was in. But use your imagination anyway you want.

You'll never convince me that dumping more money into treatment will do any good. It's been a dismal failure for the last 30 years. When something doesn't work it's time to stop doing it. How many times are you going to send the same people through the revolving treatment door?

Treatment has proven to be a failure. Have you seen those walking zombies on the streets? There's no treating them. They're done. What happens after you send them to treatment? Spend more money? They'll be using again in a month. But feel free to help as many out as you want. Offer them a room after they get out of treatment. Don't worry about locking anything of value up.

 

[MyBallzItch]

You're funny. I don't believe in the same failed treatment nonsense you do so jump to name calling. Since you obviously don't know much about drugs I'll explain the difference between a crackhead and someone that used cocaine like myself. A crackhead buys crap off the street cut with all kinds of stuff, steals, doesn't work, etc... I bought real cocaine, and turned it into freebase myself. I also always kept a job, had my own apartment, car, etc... I was never in whatever situation you think I was in. But use your imagination anyway you want.

You'll never convince me that dumping more money into treatment will do any good. It's been a dismal failure for the last 30 years. When something doesn't work it's time to stop doing it. How many times are you going to send the same people through the revolving treatment door?

Treatment has proven to be a failure. Have you seen those walking zombies on the streets? There's no treating them. They're done. What happens after you send them to treatment? Spend more money? They'll be using again in a month. But feel free to help as many out as you want. Offer them a room after they get out of treatment. Don't worry about locking anything of value up.

Bro.. You smoked crack cocaine for years. I understand that some people like yourself may consider themselves more of a cocaine connoisseur or whatever but fact is you were addicted to hard drugs for a long time. I'm from the United States where we have the most addicts per Capita and unlike wherever you're from, we have spent the past 50 years doing exactly what you're talking about doing. We have never funded drug treatment properly in this country and instead choose to fund police departments and other drug enforcement agencies. So if you want to see what the end result is to your "spend on prevention" hypothesis you need to look no further than the pictures you provided. I would be willing to bet my house that those people took part in dumb ass D.A.R.E. programs growing up and still wound up addicted to drugs.. just like you were.

Full disclosure, the hardest drug I've taken is ecstasy. I just really respect people like yourself who were once junkies for many years, who have the willpower to change their lives. One of the most impressive things one can accomplish is cleaning themselves up after being addicted to crack/meth/heroin/fent.

"I did a couple years smoking the rock. My flavor of choice was Cocaine back when you could get the good stuff. Spent a couple years smoking the rock"

That's some heavy shit man. I know you probably think you had your stuff together but people who smoke crack for years are crackheads, my friend.

 

[xtsho]

Bro.. You smoked crack cocaine for years. I understand that some people like yourself may consider themselves more of a cocaine connoisseur or whatever but fact is you were addicted to hard drugs for a long time. I'm from the United States where we have the most addicts per Capita and unlike wherever you're from, we have spent the past 50 years doing exactly what you're talking about doing. We have never funded drug treatment properly in this country and instead choose to fund police departments and other drug enforcement agencies. So if you want to see what the end result is to your "spend on prevention" hypothesis you need to look no further than the pictures you provided. I would be willing to bet my house that those people took part in dumb ass D.A.R.E. programs growing up and still wound up addicted to drugs.. just like you were.

Full disclosure, the hardest drug I've taken is ecstasy. I just really respect people like yourself who were once junkies for many years, who have the willpower to change their lives. One of the most impressive things one can accomplish is cleaning themselves up after being addicted to crack/meth/heroin/fent.

"I did a couple years smoking the rock. My flavor of choice was Cocaine back when you could get the good stuff. Spent a couple years smoking the rock"

That's some heavy shit man. I know you probably think you had your stuff together but people who smoke crack for years are crackheads, my friend.

Give it a break. I was never a junkie.

Merry Xmas

 

[MyBallzItch]

Give it a break. I was never a junkie.

Merry Xmas

You too man

 

[subwax]

You're funny. I don't believe in the same failed treatment nonsense you do so jump to name calling. Since you obviously don't know much about drugs I'll explain the difference between a crackhead and someone that used cocaine like myself. A crackhead buys crap off the street cut with all kinds of stuff, steals, doesn't work, etc... I bought real cocaine, and turned it into freebase myself. I also always kept a job, had my own apartment, car, etc... I was never in whatever situation you think I was in. But use your imagination anyway you want.

You'll never convince me that dumping more money into treatment will do any good. It's been a dismal failure for the last 30 years. When something doesn't work it's time to stop doing it. How many times are you going to send the same people through the revolving treatment door?

Treatment has proven to be a failure. Have you seen those walking zombies on the streets? There's no treating them. They're done. What happens after you send them to treatment? Spend more money? They'll be using again in a month. But feel free to help as many out as you want. Offer them a room after they get out of treatment. Don't worry about locking anything of value up.

With respect - it almost seems like you are proud of your cocaine addiction, like its some kind of fine wine. The pics you posted could be you very soon.

 

[riuoldmember]

every drug should be completely legal. even weed isnt legal.

 

[althor]

every drug should be completely legal. even weed isnt legal.

I would never, ever buy into that. I definitely think there should be other ways of dealing with drug addicts outside of just jail time, but there are some really bad, dangerous drugs out there that should never be legal.