Drugs are bad m'kay.

[fastfredracing]

Both of these guys, good friends from my childhood, and young adult life.


Dead.

One from smack, one from blow. That will be 4 funerals that I have attended in the last 7 years of good friends who battled with addiction and lost. .
Saw this pic on facebook today, and it filled me with sadness. These were both good kids, I have no idea what the fark happened to them or how they got so far off track.
Stay sober my friends

[speeder]

Sorry to hear. I've buried more than I can count from this, between friends and acquaintances. RIP.

[Rick V]

Sorry to hear it. The only way to truly understand addiction is to be addicted. Unless you have been there you will never understand, and words can not describe it. Be glad you don't understand how your friends got so far off track, I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

[edgemar]

'Bad heroin' blamed for 22 deaths in western Pennsylvania - latimes.com

wonder if one of them was included.... RIP drugs are bad...

[mikesride]

That makes for a tough day.
sorry man.

[legion]

New Year's Eve 1997. As I was drinking Bud Lights, it suddenly occurred to me that most of my friends were going to the bathroom and returning with bloody noses. That was the last time I saw any of them. I'm sure some of them are dead by now, but I cut off all ties when I realized the path they were on.

[epbrown]

Wow. I can count on one hand the number of people I know that have done drugs, and all of them quit in their 20s and never went beyond weed. I do agree with Alan Arkin's character in "Little Miss Sunshine" - once you're past 70, what the hell, take what you want.

[herr_oberst]

My condolences, Fred.

[Bill Douglas]

It almost brings tears to my eyes.

The injustice of it. We all started out as ordinary kids, all sitting together eating our lunches at school. All laughing about the same things. Certain traits started to show and a few individuals started to get slightly obsessed about girls/motorbikes/wanting to be a gangster/drugs then followed these paths TOO Much. Us boring kids got slightly involved and had some fun but not obsessed - kind of playing the long game and came out off all of it OK. The ones who took it too far ended up getting shot, killed in accidents or suicided. My best buddy from school days in an alcoholic/druggy and I fear that one day the phone will ring to tell me it's his funeral. Sorry I'm rambling but this whole situation is painful to me too.

[GH85Carrera]

I remember a guy I knew that was my age. He had the same interests as I did as in good beer, dogs, cars and guns and of course women.

One day I was at his house and he showed me a shoe box full of Quaaludes. He asked me if I wanted on and declined. I knew he smoked pot and I always just passed the joint without sampling. I stuck to beer. There was always people coming and going at his house. Finally it dawned on me how he was really earing the money he had. Yea, I was just ignorant of the entire drug scene.

I just quit the friendship and was always busy when he invited me over to party. A few years later he was in the news as the police had him handcuffed and doing the perp walk.

I have sometimes thought of looking him up. He should be out by now. If he is out of the drug world he might be nice to catch up with.

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by Rick V

Sorry to hear it. The only way to truly understand addiction is to be addicted. Unless you have been there you will never understand, and words can not describe it. Be glad you don't understand how your friends got so far off track, I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

Amen..

[dennis in se pa]

Been there. Two different friends from childhood, who each separately ended up living at my house for awhile somewhere along the way, died similarly. Addiction is, as mentioned above, something you will never understand unless you have been there.

But sometimes it is not simply addiction. Once a smoker has been off of cigarettes for a year he is no longer physically addicted. Yet how many CHOOSE TO have one puff and they are right back there?

I have a relative going through this right now. Been in rehab 20 times. YES 20! Off heroin for a year or more. CHOSE TO indulge again recently. In rehab again.

In some cases it is something other than addiction.

[rcooled]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

In some cases it is something other than addiction.

There's a psychological component to addiction as well as the physical issues, due to the fact that over-indulgence in opiates can permanently alter brain chemistry. I know a former heroin addict (clean for 20+ years) who told me that hardly a day goes by where she doesn't think about smack. When Keith Richards was asked what he thought the most amazing experience of his life was, he had a one-word answer: 'Heroin'.

[speeder]

Been there. Two different friends from childhood, who each separately ended up living at my house for awhile somewhere along the way, died similarly. Addiction is, as mentioned above, something you will never understand unless you have been there.

But sometimes it is not simply addiction. Once a smoker has been off of cigarettes for a year he is no longer physically addicted. Yet how many CHOOSE TO have one puff and they are right back there?

I have a relative going through this right now. Been in rehab 20 times. YES 20! Off heroin for a year or more. CHOSE TO indulge again recently. In rehab again.

In some cases it is something other than addiction.

No, that IS addiction. It's patient and it will wait for a moment when you're weak and pounce. It never goes away completely.

It's OK, though. You're obviously not an addict. As Rick V. stated above, it's something that non-addicts just can't seem to understand even if they are intelligent in other areas.

[FLYGEEZER]

Sad, very sad. Ya just can't tempt that stuff.

[mattdavis11]

My best friend was heading down the wrong path years ago. I really didn't want to hang out with him after finding out he liked cocaine. I was ok with his pot use, it bothered me, but not that much. He called me one day, in tears, said he was scared. Asked why. He said Joe (his roommate) died in his bed, OD'ed on coke. It got his attention really fast.

I didn't know he was addicted, just thought he like to partake every now and then.

[Rusty Heap]

how many kids are addicted to McDonalds?

and their parents are Enablers, as who really goes to McDonalds for quality healthy food?

Extreme Dieters, who starve themselves with bulimia.

Coffee is another example, many people can't go a day without their Starbucks.


So it's not just the Doping / Intoxication type drugs.

More a personality and behavior situation to be dealt with.


Anything in life, in moderation.

otherwise the proper people will slam you with DENIAL if you admit you don't have problem.


Hilarious bit...............and yes I love my seafood, prawns drool prawns drool prawns butter garlic and prawns...........my name is Dave, and I'm a FishAholic.


FishAholics - Finding Nemo - YouTube

[john70t]

I know a guy who keeps a fishing pole in his car.
Drives with his head on a swivel looking for ponds.
Will slam on the brakes, jump out, and cast a few times.

[MBAtarga]

A somewhat related young man has had 5 of his friends die from heroine overdoses in the past two or so years. FIVE? We found this out when his mother casually mentioned it in conversation. I hesitated to ask if he perhaps might be running around with the wrong crowd.

[81Kremer930]

My condolences to you and yours. I know exactly how you feel, I have been to more funerals for friends with alcoholism/addiction in the last several years than i can count. Its a very sad situation.
I am fortunate, as I am certain others here are too, and have lived on both sides of the coin so-to-speak; I hit someone elses bottom almost 8 years ago and have been sober ever since. A lot of my friends haven't been as fortunate as I have. Seemingly the older I get, the more friends and aqcuaintances I lose to this disease. We only have today really, we make the most of it, and try our best to be the best we can and know how to be. The one's we have lost young were the ones we usually loved the most.