Drug Addiction

just be supportive. shes 17. sooooo many people have had trouble with stuff like that at that age. i wouldnt worry excessively. you can do what you can but ultimately its her decision. also parents overreact. when my parents found out i was smoking pot a couple years ago they acted as though i were throwing my life away. young people go through phases. just play big brother and try to appeal to her as someone more her age group and shell listen to and respect you more. dont come off as acusatory (is that a word?) or youll just piss her off.

good luck man

 

i'm pretty sure meggoleggo is a girl...

 

The fact that your folks have found that she's an addict and are working to help her shows that they haven't failed. Despite what any one here might say, don't ever believe that.

I don't have any personal stories, but have no doubt that you and your family will be able to help your sister. I wish you the best of luck.

 

haha god out of 10 thousand members i pick one of the 3 or so girls to say "man"

sorry uh... baby? hell i dunno, but hope things work out!

 

your family is in my prayers...i don't have any experience with this or any answers...but i'll pray for you guys.

 

hey sorry, didnt mean to make light of things, just trying to make you feel better about a possibly light situation. that sounds serious tho. communication and understanding are key. in my case thankfully it was a phase and hopefully it will be for her too.

oh and kidding about the baby thing. go feminism!

 

I hear meth is a serious problem these days, probably our country's #1 drug problem, and is often found among people you wouldn't normally think of as being "on drugs". Suburban or rural kids and families. At least your family has figured out what is going on, so they can get your sister some help. Best of luck...

 

Showing your sister pictures and stories like this might help.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/29/eveningnews/main692101.shtml

 

Wow, those pics are scary.

 

I was eating around 100 white cross a week. 3 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon and 3 at night - that was just to keep the engine running. But a couple of times a week when I really wanted to speed, I'd drop 13. This went on for months. One morning, I realized that I had more energy before all this than I did. I told my dealer to stop selling me these. Fortunately he was a semi-friend and completely understood. He confessed he wished his dealer would not sell him more as he too was addicted, but he didn't think he'd care. I remember calling him a couple of times for some and he said "I'm out - no really, I'm out." Just enough of a block to get over the hump. That was 25 years ago and I'm still thankful to him and his kindness to help me.

I've quick other habits as well and basically to completely kick any habit, it has to come from within. Your parents and you must try hard not to judge, condemn, give long speaches, but in love (sometimes tough love) let her see that there is a better road in life and help her to get on it.

 

Try and watch "Intervention" on AETV at 10PM ET on Sunday nights. They deal with all kind of addictions-- including meth. It's an education.

 

The good news is that if this has happened "over the last 2 weeks" there is a slim chance that she is "addicted." More likely, at this point she is enamored with the effects. Having the opportunity to intervene this early is the best chance for success. Good luck.

 

Something needs to be done quick, though. The effects can come very quickly.

 

Drug addiction is a serious problem and unfortunately, families usually tiptoe around things. (especially early on). This is the wrong thing to do. You need to be vociferous about the negative effects these drugs will have on the family. Your parents need to be headstrong and assertive, yet loving about this problem. I think that pounding in the fact that this will hurt the family (and not just the one using drugs) is the most effective tool. When your sister realizes that abusing drugs hurts you, your mom and dad etc... it is a more powerful reason to stop.

I doubt that she is "addicted", as Rashmon said earlier, but withdrawal from amphetamines can cause depression. There may also be some underlying depression that had gone unnoticed (possibly leading her to drugs in the first place). If (while withdrawing) you notice a change in mental status, real fast pulse, sweating for no reason, or anythng that makes you feel like something isn't right, get her to a doctor/ER.

 

Most likely your sister is only aware of the euphoria that this drug can bring and is totally unaware of all side effects or bad things that could come from using. Even if she has "heard" of these effects she probably does not think it will happen to her. Addicts always think that they have control and can quit when ever they want. It is hard to tell them otherwise.
It's true that it will have to be her decision to quit, and she can not be forced or pursueded. Even if she does try to make the decision to quit, most likely she will still face cravings from time to time, especially while traces of the drug are still in her blood stream.
She also probably has a group of "friends" who are into the same drugs, maybe more, maybe less. She will have to come to terms that these may not be the "friends" for her, and that may be the hardest part.

 

meggo, I hope your sister wants to stop.

meth is a horrible addiction

I had 2 friends that were meth heads and one got clean in prison when he got busted for dealing and the other was living under a bridge in california last I heard. Last time I talked with his parents they hadn't heard from him in 5 years and they assumed he was dead. They tried rehab a number of times but he never wanted to stop so it was a waste. He told me one time early on that he enjoyed the high more than life.

The upside here is hopefully your sister just started and if you can get her some treatment now and show her the long term effects of meth on the body she may be convinced to quit.

Your family is in my thoughts.

 

First, on a side note....a DEALER was selling you White Crosses? At Vanderbilt in the early 90's everyone was popping those like candy because they were sold at every convience store and truck stop....take 3, smoke a butt, and you could write papers all night. However, never wanted to take them unless I was writing a paper...they make me feel like shait the next day.

Meggoleggo...Rahomon is prob right. Two weeks is a really short amount of time so your odds are good of nipping this in the bud.

The whole "everyone who tries crystal meth is instanly addicted" campaign that I have seen isn't true...its a terrible, terrible drug but I know of a couple people who stupidly tried it and never tried it again. One, however, got hooked:

My buddy went from BMC Project Team Leader to severe crackhead and meth junkie in the span of six months. His downward spiral was amazing. He went to Austin for one weekend and at some UT party tried both drugs. Within six months he sold everything he had, lost a six-figure job, got his car jacked in the 'hood, and got involved with some serious credit card fraud to pay for his addiction. I narc-ed on him to his parents, which was tough to do since back in college we were all smoking buds and popping the occassional tab of E...except all of us had moved on while he progressively got more and more messed up. Anyway, his parents had more cash than I could think of (I think his Dad is head of cardiology at one of the Med Center hospitals) and they sent him to some boot camp in SD or ND or one of those vacant states for 3 months. He's fine now. Three kids. Lives in suburbia and has a big belly and works at a bank. Drives a Volvo. (Ok, maybe not heaven per my definition but he's no longer using)

Good luck to your family. Meth is serious crap.

 

In my opinion, meth is worse than heroine or crack. Its ability to physically change a person is astounding. That doesn't even mention the damage it does internally. While heroine is really serious and will end up killing the veins in your body(which is very serious in itself), it doesn't seem to change one's physical appearance the way meth does.

I don't think meth is something you can just quit without some serious help. I think your sister needs to go away to rehab. Even then, most have relapses. From what I've seen on meth, once you start...you are in serious trouble. It will consume and destroy you.

So, whatever plan you'll come up with, I wouldn't base it in trusting your sister to just get off of it. She needs to be drug tested regularly for a long time to come. Obviously, from those pictures in that news article posted here, meth destroys your physical features. Your teeth fall out, your hair falls out, your face mutates, you appear to age prematurely, etc. . This is irreversible damage. There's no going back to your once pretty self.

I don't think there is any drug out there as damaging as meth. In the end, if it hasn't killed you, then you may not want to live with the result.

Your sister is in some serious trouble in my opinion. Ultimately, she will have to persevere from within using her own strength. She's really going to have to want to kick it. If there is even the slightest urge to go back while thinking she can handle another meth high after a period of being clean, then chances are she will relapse and end up in hell all over again.

That's scary. I would be very worried. I've only seen the documentaries and shows on the stuff. It is devastating from what I've seen. I'm sure there will be some very serious denial on her part either about the drug or the seriousness of her usage of the drug but, if your sure she is a meth user, then she has got to get help. If left to her own free will to do meth on her own, then I don't see your sister being around in ten years. At least, it won't be the sister you know.