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I think my bro's an addict
- Thread starter carbonmotion
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Convincing anyone, friend or no, that they may have a problem with drug abuse is next to impossible - it usually takes the user becoming convinced on his own through negative consequences, unfortunately. If your bro thinks he's handling it fine, you better leave him to make his own choices then. You can be there to help him see where there are consequences to his actions and let him know that you're there for him if he ever needs help... but ratting on him will cost you the friendship at least for the short term, though he may come to thank you in twenty years or so. If his problem starts causing problems for you, you may have to let him go his own way to avoid getting sucked up into the insanity of an addict's world.
I share my experience with you from a recovered addict's point of view - clean 8 years after 20 f*&%d up ones! Of course, every case is different, but if he is inclined to keep abusing drugs he will certainly not appreciate your intervention and is more likely to change his friends to suit his lifestyle than to change his lifestyle to suit his friends.
Good luck, and if you believe in a God, pray for him.
I share my experience with you from a recovered addict's point of view - clean 8 years after 20 f*&%d up ones! Of course, every case is different, but if he is inclined to keep abusing drugs he will certainly not appreciate your intervention and is more likely to change his friends to suit his lifestyle than to change his lifestyle to suit his friends.
Good luck, and if you believe in a God, pray for him.
Did he mention how he uses it? (or how often?)...is this something he's taking daily to cope or something he pops once and a while to "take the edge off"? Finding how he thinks it helps him gives you insight into ways you and the rest of his friends can discourage him from using it.
I agree with TheAnswer. find out how often he uses it. if its every day then that might be a problem, but if its once a week, or every few weeks i wouldn't worry. There are worse things he could be doing.
The drug of choice where i live is meth. God awful drug. Personally i have tried pot (who hasn't) and have taken coughing pills to get high a few times. i find the whole thing rather boring. I don't see how people can do the drugs they do. I guess i never will.
Just have a one on one talk with your friend. Explain your thoughts and concerns for him about the situation. Im a blunt person, so i would tell him that "im sure you know what they use to get people off of this stuff right?"
They use heroin, talk about addicting. Good luck.
The drug of choice where i live is meth. God awful drug. Personally i have tried pot (who hasn't) and have taken coughing pills to get high a few times. i find the whole thing rather boring. I don't see how people can do the drugs they do. I guess i never will.
Just have a one on one talk with your friend. Explain your thoughts and concerns for him about the situation. Im a blunt person, so i would tell him that "im sure you know what they use to get people off of this stuff right?"
They use heroin, talk about addicting. Good luck.
u of m senior, correct
the kid's smart as all hells, im pretty damn sure that he's not gonna fail med school.
I would not go as far as calling him an addict.
If he is self medicating that is one thing, but if he is constantly taking excessive doses, snorting it etc, than you may need to talk to him. Cocaine is a big problem in my school, etc.
If he has stress that needs to be dealt with, that opioids are not the smartest route. They are physically, not only mentally addicting if he uses them in excess.
I would keep count each time I go over there and see how many he eats a day, etc. If it becomes a huge issue, refer him to a psychiatrist. They can help him mentally and help him through the stress with other, safer tactics.
If he is self medicating that is one thing, but if he is constantly taking excessive doses, snorting it etc, than you may need to talk to him. Cocaine is a big problem in my school, etc.
If he has stress that needs to be dealt with, that opioids are not the smartest route. They are physically, not only mentally addicting if he uses them in excess.
I would keep count each time I go over there and see how many he eats a day, etc. If it becomes a huge issue, refer him to a psychiatrist. They can help him mentally and help him through the stress with other, safer tactics.
Dilaudid is also know as 'shakers' in the junkie world. That is because they are pure, do not require 'cooking', dissolve easily and can be injected with little effort. Street price is $50 and up. Morphine is a very dangerous drug. Addiction is certain and quick. Withdrawal can be fatal. If he is a med student, he may be injecting the stuff. That will accelerate the addiction.
The three quickest ways to turn a person into a junkie are to alienate them from family and friend, bring them to the attention of authority, and to do nothing. The first thing you should do, if you care enough for the long haul, is get educated. Stay away from the 'drug czar'. You do not want to see your friend get it together, only to find they can never practice medicine because of a past association with addiction.
The three quickest ways to turn a person into a junkie are to alienate them from family and friend, bring them to the attention of authority, and to do nothing. The first thing you should do, if you care enough for the long haul, is get educated. Stay away from the 'drug czar'. You do not want to see your friend get it together, only to find they can never practice medicine because of a past association with addiction.
How is he with his family? If he is on bad terms with them, it might not help much even if you tell on him. Personally, I feel that you should have a chat with him first. Give him the benefit of doubt like other posters say.
EDIT: oops, miss out a couple of your posts, please ignore mine.
EDIT: oops, miss out a couple of your posts, please ignore mine.
sure he can be functional... a lot of people are...
i never missed a day of work because of painkillers... ever... although i had missed a day in abscence of them... because i could barely walk...
i am not condoning drug use... but some people out there really benefit from this stuff...
although ~ good luck getting that opiate monkey off your back when you decide to quit
going straight to his parents isnt going to help anything... he is an adult, if you are truely concerned, let him know... talk to him about it...
he wont stop until he wants to...
Opiates are slow little demons. He can keep it up for years. It slowly creeps up on you, and there is functionality at the moment but his sharpness will fade , and his body will thin out with escalation.
If he just has a few months of this habit there is a great chance a good talk with a doctor, even of his professors that he trusts, about this. Just about every doctor or nurse has worked with someone who has ruined their lives with this addiction. It is really common just because of its availability.
Best of luck
If he just has a few months of this habit there is a great chance a good talk with a doctor, even of his professors that he trusts, about this. Just about every doctor or nurse has worked with someone who has ruined their lives with this addiction. It is really common just because of its availability.
Best of luck
sure he can be functional... a lot of people are...
i never missed a day of work because of painkillers... ever... although i had missed a day in abscence of them... because i could barely walk...
i am not condoning drug use... but some people out there really benefit from this stuff...
although ~ good luck getting that opiate monkey off your back when you decide to quit
going straight to his parents isnt going to help anything... he is an adult, if you are truely concerned, let him know... talk to him about it...
he wont stop until he wants to...
Well I was about to say nearly the same thing, so I'll just echo this post.
For your information, the drug in question is an Opioid or Narcotic Analgesic, not an Opiate.
There is a difference.
I haven't tried 'pot' actually. Oh and neither have a lot of people.
To the OP: The worst thing you can do is nothing. Despite what has been said here, you SHOULD be worried even if he is only taking it every other day. It can become addictive with low doses, and there is many nasty side-effects in higher doses.
Talk to him about his addiction, try and persuade him to see his GP. If that doesn't work, you have no option but to tell someone responsible about it.
David
Yes, but why split hairs over it? It's all a form of the same basic presence, now isn't it?
Yes, but why split hairs over it? It's all a form of the same basic presence, now isn't it?
No, it isn't.
An opiate is a narcotic analgesic which is structurally similar to morphine with similar physiological effects.
An opioid on the other hand is a compound with morphine-like effects, but structurally different. Therefore, they have a different pharmacological action (varied within the group), with different dose-response ratios.
There is an important difference here, as I said to begin with.
If worse comes to worse and you CANNOT break through his denial, I think you should tell his parents (tactfully), EVEN RISKING his friendship. It's better to lose a friend but to know you have done everything to help avoid him slide from a prescription painkiller addiction to heroin and the like. I believe the only good way to halt an addiction is to catch it in its early stages; once he's hooked on heroin and the like, it's nearly impossible to quit, and you probably wouldn't feel great having seen it coming but not having done anything about it due to falsely understood "loyalty". There basically *is* no loyalty you should have towards his denial and his addiction.
Of course I would try to be proactive first. Yes, make him aware he's throwing his career out the window, tell him he's not as likable as he used to be and is risking his friendships, and maybe also actively try to involve him into "good" things to get him back on track -- work out with him, get into new hobbies (that don't involve bars, drinking, or anything else he might develop a new unhealthy addiction to), maybe introduce him to nice girls, suggest to volunteer at a local children's hospital together, start a study group or whatever.
But if all fails and push comes to shove, his parents deserve to know.
Of course I would try to be proactive first. Yes, make him aware he's throwing his career out the window, tell him he's not as likable as he used to be and is risking his friendships, and maybe also actively try to involve him into "good" things to get him back on track -- work out with him, get into new hobbies (that don't involve bars, drinking, or anything else he might develop a new unhealthy addiction to), maybe introduce him to nice girls, suggest to volunteer at a local children's hospital together, start a study group or whatever.
But if all fails and push comes to shove, his parents deserve to know.
but the brain stem, spinal cord, and limbic system treat it all the same...no??
and for testing purposes they can not pin down what specific opiates are in your metabolites... (meaning if you take a pee test, you fail for opoiods... they have no idea wheather your taking heroin, vicodins, oxys, morphine, methadone...etc)
if i am wrong...please correct me... because i am not a doctor, i just play one on TV
Or poppy seed bagels
Hair and tests can be more specific. Not sure how specific though.
Linkety
Misuse can range from overdose to trying to quit 'cold turkey'.
Linkety (PDF Warning!) to a nice flyer about what can happen. You might say that you can die from dehydration related to vomiting and diarrhea, and although that may not be death by "Opiate Withdrawal" per se, it is death from a side effect of opiate withdrawal.
Dead is dead, good enough for me.