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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, if it is heroin, you need to ditch the kid ASAP.

There is no saving a heroin addict. It will just end with pain and suffering for the entire family. Change the locks and don't let him in.[/quote]

You are wrong. I have family members who have been as low as you would like, who are now clean, sober and well-employed. [/quote]

Don't you dare tell me I don't know what its like. My 22 year old son is a heroin/multi-drug addict and has been since age 16. If I could have him alive again, I would do ANYTHING. Sadly, the truth is, as soon as he stuck a needle in his veins he was dead. The only thing you can do is kick him out, change the locks, and hold a funeral for the human being he is.

Look at the stats. The only successful method of getting 'clean' is to give them a script for suboxone or methadone, aka legal heroin, to pad the stats. That's not clean, that's just being a legal junkie.[/quote]

I am very sorry about your DS.  After six years of use, he is a pretty hardened addict.  It is very challenging to bring hardened addicts back, I agree.  At that point, users are using mostly to avoid withdrawal and are caught in a messy lifestyle dictated by the need to score drugs by whatever means including petty theft and sex for drugs.

But newer users or addicts definitely have a good chance if suitable interventions are made, and they do not need to include suboxone or methadone.  How a parent deals with the early usage can be key to making the difference in whether the child gets on the road to recovery or on the road to a lost life.

Myths that get in the way of a parent making the right choices include the idea that only completely voluntary treatment works.  Wrong--people in court mandated into rehab have success rates comparable to those who go voluntarily.  Another damaging myth is that a person has to hit rock bottom first before treatment works.  This couldn't be more wrong.  Success is much higher the further away from rock bottom a person is.  Another myth is that tough love is the only way to go with a child in this situation.  No, you need to set boundaries and make clear to the child the boundaries are for you and are not being set "for his own good."

You set consequences for violating the boundaries and--importantly--communicate them clearly in the advance (as opposed to making them up on the spot) and follow through immediately.  The latter implies you need to have a plan in place for executing the consequence long before the occasion arises.  Finally, people think random drug testing is the way to go, probably because that is what work places do.  No, you do regular twice a week drug testing at times agreed to in advance.

I share your distaste for the heroin replacements (use of suboxone or methadone are sometimes referred to as "harm reduction" approaches) because they substitute one addictive substance for another and they are even harder to get off of than heroin because they have a much longer half life.  In addition, many addicts use these drugs in addition to heroin and view them as a backstop in case they are unable to score on a particular day.  I would much rather see broader use of naltrexone, which is not addictive and, because it blocks opiate receptors, makes any opioid use futile.

If you have money, you can send your child to an accelerated detox place that will put them on a naltrexone implant; even a hardened addict would have a chance at recovery with this route.

That said it is possible to get off heroin without any medication--my child did.  Not a picnic, particularly if you go the DIY detox route as we did, but possible.  Narcotics Anonymous can be a God send and it is free.[/quote]

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