Just how prevalent is this oxy addiction thing among our young adults in top privates?

[Anonymous]

Is the Opioid crisis in the jewish, asian, and indian communities?

That's the vast majority of my circle and this drug thing other than pot and molly/mdma is unheard of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a different perspective-

Found our S was using pills that turned into heroin use. We had no idea. I was a SAHM and involved in my kids lives. He hid it well, grades were good but slowly started to isolate and had mood swings which signaled something was wrong. Found out about 5 weeks later just how bad things were. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

We sent him right away to an out of state rehab and he started to get help. Though I am very private my H felt comfortable sharing with close friends and family what was going on. I did not agree but understood that is he was coping.

Turns out once he reached out to others, to tell them what was going on in our family, people literally came out of the woodwork. It seemed like every single person we knew had been affected in some way by addiction. A relative, close friend, sibling...it was so prevalent, scary and really shocking as everyone hides behind this false front that all is well.

Some of our friends that shared with us really shocked us as they were the ones we thought were totally together. It did give us a sense of comfort to know we were not alone and it instantly gave us a group of people with whom to share when we were going through some really rough days.

That was 3 years ago, it was a bumpy ride for about a year (3 rehabs) but today he is back in college and will graduate in about a year. He is applying for dental school and has a wonderful gf who has been so supportive. He has adopted the 12 steps and attends meetings 4 times a week religiously.

We have supported him every step and it was not always east though these meetings he has met what he calls true lifelong friends who have his back and don't judge.

He is a great kid who got lost in the jungle of addiction. It happens to the best of them and recovery IS possible.

He made a conscious choice to use drugs. He did not get lost in the jungle.

NO you are wrong, your ignorance is astounding. He started off with a sport injury and was given oxy. He took it only a few days and unbeknownst to us went to get more (and was given more by dr). The rest is history, it was a quick and furious downward spiral very very fast. When he could not get enough money he was sold/offered heroin.
To reply to another question, he was in private but don't kid yourself it's EVERYWHERE. I can honestly say at his rehab about 70% were just like him, well to do, white privileged, successful families, NOT the picture you expect to see for heroin addiction. It was extremely shocking to me first since I knew nothing about "the drug world" but mostly who it is affecting most.

I want to reiterate to all parents out here, we had NO IDEA. With many kids, you see signs in our sons case, he maintained everything quite well until it was a full blown addiction then we started to see cracks in the veneer. I do not wish this upon anyone but do be wise, be smart and aware. He was the last kid I thought this could happen to, and many others have echoed this same refrain. Top student athlete, had everything going for him.

NP here. Don't kid yourself, your son could have and should have stopped taking oxy after the initial medical need (his injury) ran out but he did not. He didn't because taking it felt good to him and he could get away with it. I highly doubt he was in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second. You don't need to demonize people who see most drug addicts for what they are - people who chose to chase a high, and chose the wrong drug.

She didn't say he was "in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second." She said it was a quick downward spiral after that. Two oxy scripts can indeed set a person on a rapid path to addiction. I'm sure you're right that he took it because it felt good. I'm not sure what your point is.

The point is this kid chose to get his second script of oxy and he chose to do whatever he did after that to get high again. He wasn't hapless, it didn't "just happen" to him and he wasn't "lost in a jungle" at that point, there were poor choices this kid made and all of you who choose not to acknowledge personal responsibility in many cases of addiction is fueling the problem.

You have very little understanding of addiction. What exact purpose do you think hammering "bad choices" does? Addiction is obviously more than just an issue of choice. If it were that easy nobody would be an addict. And we wouldn't see addiction rates skyrocketing in parallel to the availability of highly addicting drugs. The opioid and crack crises did not happen because people suddenly lost willpower en masse. They happened because those substances became widely available and are very addictive.

You are unable to accept that your precious snowflakes chose to get high on the wrong crap and now they are addicted. Much easier to say it's not their fault. The same poor parenting that got your kids into the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had oral cancer and very quickly got seriously addicted to Oxy. It had nothing to do with a high, just a rapid onset of increased tolerance and a compulsion to keep the pain as controlled as possible. It's an incredibly slow/gradual process to gradually wean yourself of opiates without experiencing unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana probably would have been an excellent alternative, but I didn't have a clue about that at the time.

Absolutely people in chronic or long term pain have been ill served by doctors and got hooked through no fault of their own.

This does not apply to the prep school jocks that go out looking for pills when they don't need them. And please, I remember being in high school. They are absolutely looking to have fun and get high. Adjust your parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids at these schools generally are not dealing. They know a friend of a friend who knows someone shady and they are getting the pills or the heroin from them. There may be exceptions--someone has a grandmother with cancer and is still the pills, but I'd say this is rare.

Still, shouldn't this be reported?

[Anonymous]

China is the country where the carfentanyl is coming from that is killing people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The "it's a choice" people are definitely failing to take into account the not fully developed frontal cortexes of teens and young adults. There is a reason young people "make the choice" to go to war and older adults do not. Our military depends upon it.

What an ignorant, privileged, out of touch point of view.

Most young people who join the military are poor and come from impoverished areas of the country where there are few opportunities. It's a way into a career and out of poverty. Few are joining so they can be sent to the front lines for some sort of adrenaline rush. It's also a rigorous, structured, highly disciplined process, and I'll bet none of your privileged, private school attending druggie kids have the guts, discipline, or honor to serve the country like they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a different perspective-

Found our S was using pills that turned into heroin use. We had no idea. I was a SAHM and involved in my kids lives. He hid it well, grades were good but slowly started to isolate and had mood swings which signaled something was wrong. Found out about 5 weeks later just how bad things were. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

We sent him right away to an out of state rehab and he started to get help. Though I am very private my H felt comfortable sharing with close friends and family what was going on. I did not agree but understood that is he was coping.

Turns out once he reached out to others, to tell them what was going on in our family, people literally came out of the woodwork. It seemed like every single person we knew had been affected in some way by addiction. A relative, close friend, sibling...it was so prevalent, scary and really shocking as everyone hides behind this false front that all is well.

Some of our friends that shared with us really shocked us as they were the ones we thought were totally together. It did give us a sense of comfort to know we were not alone and it instantly gave us a group of people with whom to share when we were going through some really rough days.

That was 3 years ago, it was a bumpy ride for about a year (3 rehabs) but today he is back in college and will graduate in about a year. He is applying for dental school and has a wonderful gf who has been so supportive. He has adopted the 12 steps and attends meetings 4 times a week religiously.

We have supported him every step and it was not always east though these meetings he has met what he calls true lifelong friends who have his back and don't judge.

He is a great kid who got lost in the jungle of addiction. It happens to the best of them and recovery IS possible.

He made a conscious choice to use drugs. He did not get lost in the jungle.

NO you are wrong, your ignorance is astounding. He started off with a sport injury and was given oxy. He took it only a few days and unbeknownst to us went to get more (and was given more by dr). The rest is history, it was a quick and furious downward spiral very very fast. When he could not get enough money he was sold/offered heroin.
To reply to another question, he was in private but don't kid yourself it's EVERYWHERE. I can honestly say at his rehab about 70% were just like him, well to do, white privileged, successful families, NOT the picture you expect to see for heroin addiction. It was extremely shocking to me first since I knew nothing about "the drug world" but mostly who it is affecting most.

I want to reiterate to all parents out here, we had NO IDEA. With many kids, you see signs in our sons case, he maintained everything quite well until it was a full blown addiction then we started to see cracks in the veneer. I do not wish this upon anyone but do be wise, be smart and aware. He was the last kid I thought this could happen to, and many others have echoed this same refrain. Top student athlete, had everything going for him.

NP here. Don't kid yourself, your son could have and should have stopped taking oxy after the initial medical need (his injury) ran out but he did not. He didn't because taking it felt good to him and he could get away with it. I highly doubt he was in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second. You don't need to demonize people who see most drug addicts for what they are - people who chose to chase a high, and chose the wrong drug.

She didn't say he was "in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second." She said it was a quick downward spiral after that. Two oxy scripts can indeed set a person on a rapid path to addiction. I'm sure you're right that he took it because it felt good. I'm not sure what your point is.

The point is this kid chose to get his second script of oxy and he chose to do whatever he did after that to get high again. He wasn't hapless, it didn't "just happen" to him and he wasn't "lost in a jungle" at that point, there were poor choices this kid made and all of you who choose not to acknowledge personal responsibility in many cases of addiction is fueling the problem.

You have very little understanding of addiction. What exact purpose do you think hammering "bad choices" does? Addiction is obviously more than just an issue of choice. If it were that easy nobody would be an addict. And we wouldn't see addiction rates skyrocketing in parallel to the availability of highly addicting drugs. The opioid and crack crises did not happen because people suddenly lost willpower en masse. They happened because those substances became widely available and are very addictive.

You are unable to accept that your precious snowflakes chose to get high on the wrong crap and now they are addicted. Much easier to say it's not their fault. The same poor parenting that got your kids into the situation.

Yes they chose the wrong crap to get high on because it is more immediately deadly and addictive. But they learn from parents and our culture that getting high is socially acceptable and admired. They see parents drinking wine and scotch and smoking pot and getting high also. A drug is a drug.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a different perspective-

Found our S was using pills that turned into heroin use. We had no idea. I was a SAHM and involved in my kids lives. He hid it well, grades were good but slowly started to isolate and had mood swings which signaled something was wrong. Found out about 5 weeks later just how bad things were. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

We sent him right away to an out of state rehab and he started to get help. Though I am very private my H felt comfortable sharing with close friends and family what was going on. I did not agree but understood that is he was coping.

Turns out once he reached out to others, to tell them what was going on in our family, people literally came out of the woodwork. It seemed like every single person we knew had been affected in some way by addiction. A relative, close friend, sibling...it was so prevalent, scary and really shocking as everyone hides behind this false front that all is well.

Some of our friends that shared with us really shocked us as they were the ones we thought were totally together. It did give us a sense of comfort to know we were not alone and it instantly gave us a group of people with whom to share when we were going through some really rough days.

That was 3 years ago, it was a bumpy ride for about a year (3 rehabs) but today he is back in college and will graduate in about a year. He is applying for dental school and has a wonderful gf who has been so supportive. He has adopted the 12 steps and attends meetings 4 times a week religiously.

We have supported him every step and it was not always east though these meetings he has met what he calls true lifelong friends who have his back and don't judge.

He is a great kid who got lost in the jungle of addiction. It happens to the best of them and recovery IS possible.

He made a conscious choice to use drugs. He did not get lost in the jungle.

NO you are wrong, your ignorance is astounding. He started off with a sport injury and was given oxy. He took it only a few days and unbeknownst to us went to get more (and was given more by dr). The rest is history, it was a quick and furious downward spiral very very fast. When he could not get enough money he was sold/offered heroin.
To reply to another question, he was in private but don't kid yourself it's EVERYWHERE. I can honestly say at his rehab about 70% were just like him, well to do, white privileged, successful families, NOT the picture you expect to see for heroin addiction. It was extremely shocking to me first since I knew nothing about "the drug world" but mostly who it is affecting most.

I want to reiterate to all parents out here, we had NO IDEA. With many kids, you see signs in our sons case, he maintained everything quite well until it was a full blown addiction then we started to see cracks in the veneer. I do not wish this upon anyone but do be wise, be smart and aware. He was the last kid I thought this could happen to, and many others have echoed this same refrain. Top student athlete, had everything going for him.

NP here. Don't kid yourself, your son could have and should have stopped taking oxy after the initial medical need (his injury) ran out but he did not. He didn't because taking it felt good to him and he could get away with it. I highly doubt he was in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second. You don't need to demonize people who see most drug addicts for what they are - people who chose to chase a high, and chose the wrong drug.

She didn't say he was "in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second." She said it was a quick downward spiral after that. Two oxy scripts can indeed set a person on a rapid path to addiction. I'm sure you're right that he took it because it felt good. I'm not sure what your point is.

The point is this kid chose to get his second script of oxy and he chose to do whatever he did after that to get high again. He wasn't hapless, it didn't "just happen" to him and he wasn't "lost in a jungle" at that point, there were poor choices this kid made and all of you who choose not to acknowledge personal responsibility in many cases of addiction is fueling the problem.

You have very little understanding of addiction. What exact purpose do you think hammering "bad choices" does? Addiction is obviously more than just an issue of choice. If it were that easy nobody would be an addict. And we wouldn't see addiction rates skyrocketing in parallel to the availability of highly addicting drugs. The opioid and crack crises did not happen because people suddenly lost willpower en masse. They happened because those substances became widely available and are very addictive.

Ignore that poster. You have to be a special type of asshole to be faulting a kid for taking medication prescribed to him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am friends with parents whose children attend Burke, Field, GDS, Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga, Holton, Lab, Landon, Madeira, Maret, NCS, Potomac, Sidwell, St. John's, SS&SA, STA, Visitation, and WIS.. I have had discussions about the presence and extent of hard drug use among students in these school communities. Not one single parent I have asked about this issue believes that hard drugs like opiods, heroin, or meth are being used by the student's in these schools.

We absolutely do need to starting publicly outing these schools, thoigh not the individuals, so that the parents become aware of the issue and bring pressure upon the schools to do something about it. Please if you know something, say something, fresh air is a great sanitizer.

+1000

Thank you. It is also time we started to privately out the student dealers to school faculty and administrators.

As a parent with kids at one of these schools (Sidwell), but in the lower grades, I'm surprised and saddened to hear that this doesn't already happen. What are parents so afraid of? If I was absolutely certain - with proof - that a kid in my DC's school was dealing drugs, I would not think twice about alerting school officials.

Because parents would have to get their own student involved to report it, and no one wants their child to be the one first reports it.

Wrong, I got my DD to report it. A very good male friend of hers slipped down this slope and eventually began dealing to pay for his own habit behind his parents' backs. My DD actually took it upon herself to visit with the mother and father (divorced) separately and inform them of what was going on with their son, initially they were dismissive because he continued with his "ways." He cut ties with my DD knowing she would be the friend who would try to get him help, then fast forward several months later and DD receives a middle of the night phone call after this young man had been beaten pretty badly during a transaction. The parents took it seriously for all of a week and again he is back to his old tricks. The parents have to come out of denial and take this seriously when someone cares enough to put themselves out their to protect these parent's DC. I feel sad for this young man, his school throws around random suspensions which are laughable, his parents are self involved in themselves and most of his friends are just too afraid to stand up to him. As a parent of one of his friends, I am truly sad about the stupidity and denial of parents in this area. I see it time and time again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the Opioid crisis in the jewish, asian, and indian communities?

That's the vast majority of my circle and this drug thing other than pot and molly/mdma is unheard of.

Well aren't you special. Just stick to your Molly and pretend that you don't contribute to all the drug makers and dealers making billions in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a different perspective-

Found our S was using pills that turned into heroin use. We had no idea. I was a SAHM and involved in my kids lives. He hid it well, grades were good but slowly started to isolate and had mood swings which signaled something was wrong. Found out about 5 weeks later just how bad things were. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

We sent him right away to an out of state rehab and he started to get help. Though I am very private my H felt comfortable sharing with close friends and family what was going on. I did not agree but understood that is he was coping.

Turns out once he reached out to others, to tell them what was going on in our family, people literally came out of the woodwork. It seemed like every single person we knew had been affected in some way by addiction. A relative, close friend, sibling...it was so prevalent, scary and really shocking as everyone hides behind this false front that all is well.

Some of our friends that shared with us really shocked us as they were the ones we thought were totally together. It did give us a sense of comfort to know we were not alone and it instantly gave us a group of people with whom to share when we were going through some really rough days.

That was 3 years ago, it was a bumpy ride for about a year (3 rehabs) but today he is back in college and will graduate in about a year. He is applying for dental school and has a wonderful gf who has been so supportive. He has adopted the 12 steps and attends meetings 4 times a week religiously.

We have supported him every step and it was not always east though these meetings he has met what he calls true lifelong friends who have his back and don't judge.

He is a great kid who got lost in the jungle of addiction. It happens to the best of them and recovery IS possible.

He made a conscious choice to use drugs. He did not get lost in the jungle.

NO you are wrong, your ignorance is astounding. He started off with a sport injury and was given oxy. He took it only a few days and unbeknownst to us went to get more (and was given more by dr). The rest is history, it was a quick and furious downward spiral very very fast. When he could not get enough money he was sold/offered heroin.
To reply to another question, he was in private but don't kid yourself it's EVERYWHERE. I can honestly say at his rehab about 70% were just like him, well to do, white privileged, successful families, NOT the picture you expect to see for heroin addiction. It was extremely shocking to me first since I knew nothing about "the drug world" but mostly who it is affecting most.

I want to reiterate to all parents out here, we had NO IDEA. With many kids, you see signs in our sons case, he maintained everything quite well until it was a full blown addiction then we started to see cracks in the veneer. I do not wish this upon anyone but do be wise, be smart and aware. He was the last kid I thought this could happen to, and many others have echoed this same refrain. Top student athlete, had everything going for him.

NP here. Don't kid yourself, your son could have and should have stopped taking oxy after the initial medical need (his injury) ran out but he did not. He didn't because taking it felt good to him and he could get away with it. I highly doubt he was in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second. You don't need to demonize people who see most drug addicts for what they are - people who chose to chase a high, and chose the wrong drug.

She didn't say he was "in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second." She said it was a quick downward spiral after that. Two oxy scripts can indeed set a person on a rapid path to addiction. I'm sure you're right that he took it because it felt good. I'm not sure what your point is.

The point is this kid chose to get his second script of oxy and he chose to do whatever he did after that to get high again. He wasn't hapless, it didn't "just happen" to him and he wasn't "lost in a jungle" at that point, there were poor choices this kid made and all of you who choose not to acknowledge personal responsibility in many cases of addiction is fueling the problem.

You have very little understanding of addiction. What exact purpose do you think hammering "bad choices" does? Addiction is obviously more than just an issue of choice. If it were that easy nobody would be an addict. And we wouldn't see addiction rates skyrocketing in parallel to the availability of highly addicting drugs. The opioid and crack crises did not happen because people suddenly lost willpower en masse. They happened because those substances became widely available and are very addictive.

Ignore that poster. You have to be a special type of asshole to be faulting a kid for taking medication prescribed to him.

Faulting a kid for continuing to take drugs when he no longer needs them is called personal responsibility. Kids have to learn this to become productive adults. Not np, but I personally fault his parents for filling that prescription over and over, how else could he get it? But the kids, especially a teen, has some skin in the game, he/she knows best if their symptoms have improved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You have very little understanding of addiction. What exact purpose do you think hammering "bad choices" does? Addiction is obviously more than just an issue of choice. If it were that easy nobody would be an addict. And we wouldn't see addiction rates skyrocketing in parallel to the availability of highly addicting drugs. The opioid and crack crises did not happen because people suddenly lost willpower en masse. They happened because those substances became widely available and are very addictive.

It's their magical thinking to reassure them that it won't happen to them. It works like this:

1. Bad things only happen as a result of making bad choices.
2. I won't make bad choices (or, more likely in this context, my child won't make bad choices), therefore this bad thing won't happen to me (or my child).

This is as effectivel as any other magical thinking.

I think your application of magical thinking to this thread is flawed. This is the correct one:

1. My snowflake angel could not possibly have been at fault for now being hooked on heroin (alternatively: I cannot be responsible for the fact that my son is now a heroin addict)

2. Therefore, no addicts are responsible. It's all the government/big pharma/doctors/other kids/schools/society's fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a different perspective-

Found our S was using pills that turned into heroin use. We had no idea. I was a SAHM and involved in my kids lives. He hid it well, grades were good but slowly started to isolate and had mood swings which signaled something was wrong. Found out about 5 weeks later just how bad things were. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

We sent him right away to an out of state rehab and he started to get help. Though I am very private my H felt comfortable sharing with close friends and family what was going on. I did not agree but understood that is he was coping.

Turns out once he reached out to others, to tell them what was going on in our family, people literally came out of the woodwork. It seemed like every single person we knew had been affected in some way by addiction. A relative, close friend, sibling...it was so prevalent, scary and really shocking as everyone hides behind this false front that all is well.

Some of our friends that shared with us really shocked us as they were the ones we thought were totally together. It did give us a sense of comfort to know we were not alone and it instantly gave us a group of people with whom to share when we were going through some really rough days.

That was 3 years ago, it was a bumpy ride for about a year (3 rehabs) but today he is back in college and will graduate in about a year. He is applying for dental school and has a wonderful gf who has been so supportive. He has adopted the 12 steps and attends meetings 4 times a week religiously.

We have supported him every step and it was not always east though these meetings he has met what he calls true lifelong friends who have his back and don't judge.

He is a great kid who got lost in the jungle of addiction. It happens to the best of them and recovery IS possible.

He made a conscious choice to use drugs. He did not get lost in the jungle.

NO you are wrong, your ignorance is astounding. He started off with a sport injury and was given oxy. He took it only a few days and unbeknownst to us went to get more (and was given more by dr). The rest is history, it was a quick and furious downward spiral very very fast. When he could not get enough money he was sold/offered heroin.
To reply to another question, he was in private but don't kid yourself it's EVERYWHERE. I can honestly say at his rehab about 70% were just like him, well to do, white privileged, successful families, NOT the picture you expect to see for heroin addiction. It was extremely shocking to me first since I knew nothing about "the drug world" but mostly who it is affecting most.

I want to reiterate to all parents out here, we had NO IDEA. With many kids, you see signs in our sons case, he maintained everything quite well until it was a full blown addiction then we started to see cracks in the veneer. I do not wish this upon anyone but do be wise, be smart and aware. He was the last kid I thought this could happen to, and many others have echoed this same refrain. Top student athlete, had everything going for him.

NP here. Don't kid yourself, your son could have and should have stopped taking oxy after the initial medical need (his injury) ran out but he did not. He didn't because taking it felt good to him and he could get away with it. I highly doubt he was in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second. You don't need to demonize people who see most drug addicts for what they are - people who chose to chase a high, and chose the wrong drug.

She didn't say he was "in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second." She said it was a quick downward spiral after that. Two oxy scripts can indeed set a person on a rapid path to addiction. I'm sure you're right that he took it because it felt good. I'm not sure what your point is.

The point is this kid chose to get his second script of oxy and he chose to do whatever he did after that to get high again. He wasn't hapless, it didn't "just happen" to him and he wasn't "lost in a jungle" at that point, there were poor choices this kid made and all of you who choose not to acknowledge personal responsibility in many cases of addiction is fueling the problem.

You have very little understanding of addiction. What exact purpose do you think hammering "bad choices" does? Addiction is obviously more than just an issue of choice. If it were that easy nobody would be an addict. And we wouldn't see addiction rates skyrocketing in parallel to the availability of highly addicting drugs. The opioid and crack crises did not happen because people suddenly lost willpower en masse. They happened because those substances became widely available and are very addictive.

You are unable to accept that your precious snowflakes chose to get high on the wrong crap and now they are addicted. Much easier to say it's not their fault. The same poor parenting that got your kids into the situation.

Yes they chose the wrong crap to get high on because it is more immediately deadly and addictive. But they learn from parents and our culture that getting high is socially acceptable and admired. They see parents drinking wine and scotch and smoking pot and getting high also. A drug is a drug.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a different perspective-

Found our S was using pills that turned into heroin use. We had no idea. I was a SAHM and involved in my kids lives. He hid it well, grades were good but slowly started to isolate and had mood swings which signaled something was wrong. Found out about 5 weeks later just how bad things were. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

We sent him right away to an out of state rehab and he started to get help. Though I am very private my H felt comfortable sharing with close friends and family what was going on. I did not agree but understood that is he was coping.

Turns out once he reached out to others, to tell them what was going on in our family, people literally came out of the woodwork. It seemed like every single person we knew had been affected in some way by addiction. A relative, close friend, sibling...it was so prevalent, scary and really shocking as everyone hides behind this false front that all is well.

Some of our friends that shared with us really shocked us as they were the ones we thought were totally together. It did give us a sense of comfort to know we were not alone and it instantly gave us a group of people with whom to share when we were going through some really rough days.

That was 3 years ago, it was a bumpy ride for about a year (3 rehabs) but today he is back in college and will graduate in about a year. He is applying for dental school and has a wonderful gf who has been so supportive. He has adopted the 12 steps and attends meetings 4 times a week religiously.

We have supported him every step and it was not always east though these meetings he has met what he calls true lifelong friends who have his back and don't judge.

He is a great kid who got lost in the jungle of addiction. It happens to the best of them and recovery IS possible.

He made a conscious choice to use drugs. He did not get lost in the jungle.

NO you are wrong, your ignorance is astounding. He started off with a sport injury and was given oxy. He took it only a few days and unbeknownst to us went to get more (and was given more by dr). The rest is history, it was a quick and furious downward spiral very very fast. When he could not get enough money he was sold/offered heroin.
To reply to another question, he was in private but don't kid yourself it's EVERYWHERE. I can honestly say at his rehab about 70% were just like him, well to do, white privileged, successful families, NOT the picture you expect to see for heroin addiction. It was extremely shocking to me first since I knew nothing about "the drug world" but mostly who it is affecting most.

I want to reiterate to all parents out here, we had NO IDEA. With many kids, you see signs in our sons case, he maintained everything quite well until it was a full blown addiction then we started to see cracks in the veneer. I do not wish this upon anyone but do be wise, be smart and aware. He was the last kid I thought this could happen to, and many others have echoed this same refrain. Top student athlete, had everything going for him.

NP here. Don't kid yourself, your son could have and should have stopped taking oxy after the initial medical need (his injury) ran out but he did not. He didn't because taking it felt good to him and he could get away with it. I highly doubt he was in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second. You don't need to demonize people who see most drug addicts for what they are - people who chose to chase a high, and chose the wrong drug.

She didn't say he was "in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second." She said it was a quick downward spiral after that. Two oxy scripts can indeed set a person on a rapid path to addiction. I'm sure you're right that he took it because it felt good. I'm not sure what your point is.

The point is this kid chose to get his second script of oxy and he chose to do whatever he did after that to get high again. He wasn't hapless, it didn't "just happen" to him and he wasn't "lost in a jungle" at that point, there were poor choices this kid made and all of you who choose not to acknowledge personal responsibility in many cases of addiction is fueling the problem.

You have very little understanding of addiction. What exact purpose do you think hammering "bad choices" does? Addiction is obviously more than just an issue of choice. If it were that easy nobody would be an addict. And we wouldn't see addiction rates skyrocketing in parallel to the availability of highly addicting drugs. The opioid and crack crises did not happen because people suddenly lost willpower en masse. They happened because those substances became widely available and are very addictive.

Ignore that poster. You have to be a special type of asshole to be faulting a kid for taking medication prescribed to him.

You missed the part where I said it was unlikely he was addicted to oxy by the end of his first, or even his second, script. The kid went out looking to continue his high.

By all means, change the narrative so you can continue to live in denial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "it's a choice" people are definitely failing to take into account the not fully developed frontal cortexes of teens and young adults. There is a reason young people "make the choice" to go to war and older adults do not. Our military depends upon it.

What an ignorant, privileged, out of touch point of view.

Most young people who join the military are poor and come from impoverished areas of the country where there are few opportunities. It's a way into a career and out of poverty. Few are joining so they can be sent to the front lines for some sort of adrenaline rush. It's also a rigorous, structured, highly disciplined process, and I'll bet none of your privileged, private school attending druggie kids have the guts, discipline, or honor to serve the country like they do.

This was an arc of history comment of what has been true about soldier recruitment from time immemorial--think Iliad here--and had nothing to do with the very narrow slice of who currently joins the military in the US today.