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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Umm no nothing special - it was an honest inquiry.

[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.

Wow. Ok.

The fact is, you're making a circular argument. Nobody denies that addicts start out taking drugs because it feels good, and then thereafter lack the willpower to just stop. If it didn't feel good and did not erode willpower, it wouldn't be addiction. We know that. And I don't see any evidence that there's a sudden epidemic of bad parenting (as opposed to the sudden availability of highly addictive and highly available drugs).

[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.

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.

Again, what does your "faulting the kid" really do here? Do you realize how ignorant you are about addiction? If it were as easy as the kid waking up and saying "I am not going to do drugs anymore," then there wouldn't be a drug problem. The personal responsibility required to kick an addiction is nothing at all like the personal responsibility required to say, study for a final.

[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.

Completely anecdotal, but I personally know 11 young people who are/have been heroin addicts, and three were Jewish males. One recovered very nicely, one died, and one I lost track of. It would be unwise to think your ethnic group protects your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, well, aren't you an over-educated bookworm? I'm sure historically, opportunities to make a living/career were abound for young men, and instead they all had a death wish and signed up to get speared or shot by arrows or die of infection in the fields instead of, say, being a Medieval banker or a Dark Ages big law partner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

Again, what does your "faulting the kid" really do here? Do you realize how ignorant you are about addiction? If it were as easy as the kid waking up and saying "I am not going to do drugs anymore," then there wouldn't be a drug problem. The personal responsibility required to kick an addiction is nothing at all like the personal responsibility required to say, study for a final.

And what does your "it's not the addicts' fault!" do? So much. Excuses you, the parent. Excuses your precious innocent angel. You can blame "the Government" or "Pharmaceuticals" or "Schools." You can get sympathy, money (hey, it's a disease through no fault of our own, like cancer! Give us taxpayer money/insurance money). Whether you are entitled to sympathy and money - not my interest here. But I know self-serving denial when I see it.

[Anonymous]

You are missing the point. It is well known that teens and young adults take risks that flirt with death that older people will not. This is a desirable trait in a soldier, which is why recruitment in times of war focuses heavily on males in this age group. When the pre-frontal cortex is fully developed around age 24 or 25, people become far less likely to take these risks. You could also look at auto incident statistics by demographic. There is a reason young people pay higher premiums.

This relates to drug taking in young people--even if objectively they know there are risks they are much more likely than older people to think they can manage the risks and that the risks are overblown, as well as to fail to comprehend and/or care about longer term consequences. The people saying it's a choice are looking at it from the vantage point of a mature adult. But it is kind of like saying it's a choice if a toddler sticks his finger into a light socket. (And since you are so literal--yes I know this is an extreme analogy.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. So much sympathy now that the victims are white.

Drug addicts are drug addicts.

I have zero sympathy. Taking drugs is a conscious choice just as drinking us.

I just don't think this is altogether true. I took heavy, heavy narcotics for over a year when I had cancer. Numerous surgeries and procedures left me in significant pain for many, many months. I was on Oxy, Norco, Fentenyl, etc. I hated the way the drugs made me feel, but they did relieve the pain. I never felt "high". Just jumpy and irritable and angry. I had no desire to take the medication for any reason other than severe pain.

My best friend was in a minor car accident and was prescribed 60 Lori-tab for pain. She became addicted almost instantly. She was a teacher with a wonderful husband and two great kids. She was arrested for forging a prescription and went to rehab for four months.

I think some people have addictive personalities. I think narcotics affect different people in different ways. My son had Orthopaefic surgery several months ago. I have a medicine chest full of extra Norco that he didn't need. Like me, he hates the way it makes him feel. He won't become an addict because he doesn't get the type of high that addicts get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

Again, what does your "faulting the kid" really do here? Do you realize how ignorant you are about addiction? If it were as easy as the kid waking up and saying "I am not going to do drugs anymore," then there wouldn't be a drug problem. The personal responsibility required to kick an addiction is nothing at all like the personal responsibility required to say, study for a final.

And what does your "it's not the addicts' fault!" do? So much. Excuses you, the parent. Excuses your precious innocent angel. You can blame "the Government" or "Pharmaceuticals" or "Schools." You can get sympathy, money (hey, it's a disease through no fault of our own, like cancer! Give us taxpayer money/insurance money). Whether you are entitled to sympathy and money - not my interest here. But I know self-serving denial when I see it.

I have posted here several times--actually have a child who was an addict. Was child ill served by the medical community? Absolutely. But I am also the one who is saying it is the responsibility of the family to pull the child through and that rehabs are generally scams that will get scammier if government funding is involved. We used very minimal health insurance (visit to doctor who gave very bad advice), did at home detox and NA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Again, what does your "faulting the kid" really do here? Do you realize how ignorant you are about addiction? If it were as easy as the kid waking up and saying "I am not going to do drugs anymore," then there wouldn't be a drug problem. The personal responsibility required to kick an addiction is nothing at all like the personal responsibility required to say, study for a final.

It makes that PP feel better about themselves, for some reason. That's what it does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

Again, what does your "faulting the kid" really do here? Do you realize how ignorant you are about addiction? If it were as easy as the kid waking up and saying "I am not going to do drugs anymore," then there wouldn't be a drug problem. The personal responsibility required to kick an addiction is nothing at all like the personal responsibility required to say, study for a final.

And what does your "it's not the addicts' fault!" do? So much. Excuses you, the parent. Excuses your precious innocent angel. You can blame "the Government" or "Pharmaceuticals" or "Schools." You can get sympathy, money (hey, it's a disease through no fault of our own, like cancer! Give us taxpayer money/insurance money). Whether you are entitled to sympathy and money - not my interest here. But I know self-serving denial when I see it.

You still don't get it. This isn't a fault/no-fault issue (as far as the individual goes). I KNOW that addicts make a conscious choice to use. I'm not disputing that with you. It just gets nowhere when it comes to actually solving the problem (which you are manifestly uninterested in doing.)

[Anonymous]

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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.

Again, what does your "faulting the kid" really do here? Do you realize how ignorant you are about addiction? If it were as easy as the kid waking up and saying "I am not going to do drugs anymore," then there wouldn't be a drug problem. The personal responsibility required to kick an addiction is nothing at all like the personal responsibility required to say, study for a final.

And what does your "it's not the addicts' fault!" do? So much. Excuses you, the parent. Excuses your precious innocent angel. You can blame "the Government" or "Pharmaceuticals" or "Schools." You can get sympathy, money (hey, it's a disease through no fault of our own, like cancer! Give us taxpayer money/insurance money). Whether you are entitled to sympathy and money - not my interest here. But I know self-serving denial when I see it.

You still don't get it. This isn't a fault/no-fault issue (as far as the individual goes). I KNOW that addicts make a conscious choice to use. I'm not disputing that with you. It just gets nowhere when it comes to actually solving the problem (which you are manifestly uninterested in doing.)

Acknowledging the personal choice/responsibility is actually crucial to stopping the drug use. You know, the whole "want to get clean" part. Obviously when the addict is a teen with parents determined to excuse (enable) him it's an additional barrier. People like you are pathetic and selfish. The whole "it's not the addicts' fault!" Is actually a self-serving defense mechanism designed to protect your feelings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are missing the point. It is well known that teens and young adults take risks that flirt with death that older people will not. This is a desirable trait in a soldier, which is why recruitment in times of war focuses heavily on males in this age group. When the pre-frontal cortex is fully developed around age 24 or 25, people become far less likely to take these risks. You could also look at auto incident statistics by demographic. There is a reason young people pay higher premiums.

This relates to drug taking in young people--even if objectively they know there are risks they are much more likely than older people to think they can manage the risks and that the risks are overblown, as well as to fail to comprehend and/or care about longer term consequences. The people saying it's a choice are looking at it from the vantage point of a mature adult. But it is kind of like saying it's a choice if a toddler sticks his finger into a light socket. (And since you are so literal--yes I know this is an extreme analogy.)

Not disagreeing with you here on risk taking behavior by teens - but your analogy on choosing to get high vs. choosing military service was asinine.

Am, however, disagreeing with the implication that risk taking behavior by teens means they are absolved of responsibility. It is still a choice, a product of poor decision making. You can talk until you are blue in the face externalizing the blame, but in the end, your prep school son or daughter went out seeking a regular high and that is what got them addicted.

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Again, what does your "faulting the kid" really do here? Do you realize how ignorant you are about addiction? If it were as easy as the kid waking up and saying "I am not going to do drugs anymore," then there wouldn't be a drug problem. The personal responsibility required to kick an addiction is nothing at all like the personal responsibility required to say, study for a final.

It makes that PP feel better about themselves, for some reason. That's what it does.

It actually does. I'm frankly sick of people blaming everyone else for their problems. Acknowledge that you raised a kid who made bad choices and is now an addict. That doesn't mean he/she doesn't deserve help, doesn't deserve to get better, but it does mean you stop living in denial and making everyone else to blame so you can feel better about yourself.

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Again, what does your "faulting the kid" really do here? Do you realize how ignorant you are about addiction? If it were as easy as the kid waking up and saying "I am not going to do drugs anymore," then there wouldn't be a drug problem. The personal responsibility required to kick an addiction is nothing at all like the personal responsibility required to say, study for a final.

It makes that PP feel better about themselves, for some reason. That's what it does.

It actually does. I'm frankly sick of people blaming everyone else for their problems. Acknowledge that you raised a kid who made bad choices and is now an addict. That doesn't mean he/she doesn't deserve help, doesn't deserve to get better, but it does mean you stop living in denial and making everyone else to blame so you can feel better about yourself.

+1. And what gets me is the parents who don't see the correlation to allowing underage drinking and looking the other way at things like pot smoking.