What should I do if I think my brother is addicted to meth? We're best friends and I'd do anything to make sure he's okay, I'm not positive he's doing it, but pretty sure. What should I do??
132405
Some signs of meth abuse are not sleeping, mode swings (sometimes violent), paranoia, and increased energy.  I am a recovering addict and although meth was not my drug of choice, I have know many people on it and I have seen many lives destroyed by it.  It is by far the worst drug I have ever seen in that the person is never the same after use as before, and the longer they are on it, the more serious the long term effects can be.  If you really think he has a problem with it and he is under 18, I suggest talking to your parents to try and get him some help.  If over 18, he still needs help, but your parents and no one else will have the right to force him to get help.  In this case, I suggest prayer and a long talk with him.  I have never seen a drug that works so profoundly on the nervous system.  I will pray for you and your brother and wish you both luck.
62896
"Bottoms up!"\n\nNah, I was just kidding! You probably need to talk to him about getting into a rehab. You have to talk to him about getting back his life. Tell him that by getting into rehab doesn't mean that he is weak, but rather he is trying to acknowledge his weakness and correct it. You must help your brother as you are the only one who can do this. No one can else can help him except you. But he must also be wanting to help himself. No one can force a person to do something against his own will...
656194
If your brother says it, and you kinda believe it, it's probably true.\nThe question you want to ask is "Why am I attracted to a drug addict that only wants to f*** me?"\nAre there no nice men in your community?
57596
Speaking from experience, look into N.A. (Narcotics Anonymous) It's a lot like A.A. but geared more towards drugs instead of alcohol. As far as turning him into the police, DEFINITLY! If he gets away with it now, he's sure to do it again. The sad thing is even if he is punished, he'll always steal from you or anyone else until he gets help. It may be hard but it is true that no person or program will help unless HE hits bottom and makes a decision to change his life.
172707
I personally have never done meth, but my dad was a tweeker, my aunt is a tweeker, and so where two of my best friends. The town I'm from is a meth town. It runs rampant in the oilfield. It allows you to stay up hours on end until the job is done. (They don't shut down for to much) The effects are a lack of sleep and an increase in energy. Depending on how long they have been up and how much they have smoked, they will start seeing hallucinations. You get really board and have to find stuff to do. Like my two friends would clean your cars motor with Q-tips. Just because it would keep them busy. When they went to jail they both weighed in at about a hundred pounds. And one of them was about 280 lbs. in high school. This is because most people can't stand to eat when they are spun. They have a loss of appetite. From what I understand Meth makes you feel like your on top of the world, because you have this new found energy. Meth is bad because it's highly addictive. People will steal your shit to support their habit. It has overtaken heroin as the most addictive drug from what I understand. They have also declared Meth as an epidemic. Crazy huh. It now has the highest relapse rate. Parents will often loose their kids due to it and they don't even care. It also crystalizes your lungs. And forms divots in your brain from what I've heard. It's commonly refered to as the devil's drug. My dad has been sober for over 8 years now. And everytime he gets tired at work, he thinks oh man I wish I had an 8 ball, I'd be ganked then and could easily finish this job. Good luck with your report, I hope I helped a little.
86087
Your friend's heart is reacting to her unhealthy lifestyle.\nCrack(like Meth) makes your heart race/pound and beat at an faster rate than is normal. It changes your biochemistry in your brain and body and causes paranoia which also adds to the heart taking a beating because now you're scared AND high!\n Likely your friend has been smoking for a while and her body is starting to deteriorate. If she's smoking crack, she's probably smoking cigarettes too and not taking care of her nutrition or any other part of her body. And she's not young anymore.\n   If she continues to smoke your friend will probably die or end up in an instituation.  Only 1 out of 10 people on crack ever successful get off of it. Its an extremely psychological and physically addictive drug and she's going to need to really really want to stay off to do it. And it means changing her entire lifestyle and giving up all her crack buddies/connects.  \n   You can be a friend, but don't be an enabler. You've got your own issues to deal with and toxic people will bring you down. If she continues using, I'd  be rethinking my friendship and how much I want to be involved while she's dirty.
178675
Honey, you don't need this and neither does your son. This is the role model you are choosing for your child. Is that what you want? If your guy had stayed in NA and had really tried to work this out, then I'd say to stick with him. But he really doesn't sound like he's giving it his entire effort. Maybe he does not want to give up drugs. So you have to tell him to make the choice... you or the drugs. I'll bet he chooses the drugs, thinking you won't walk out. But I know you will leave becasue I'll bet you love your kid a lot more than you love this drug addict.
471415
It sounds like your acquaintance is having trouble figuring out who is he (this used to be called "finding yourself" once upon a time). As he explores different ways of looking at the world and at himself via the drugs, he's also exploring different ways of being. Could be that he'd benefit from some counseling, but that's up to him if he wants to really delve into his own psyche or if he'd rather just abuse his body to the point where he no longer cares who he is. I believe that most people have the capacity to be bisexual, and there's nothing bad about that. However, making advances on friends he knows to be straight indicates he's having problems with judgment (also evidenced by the drug use). So, the drugs per se are a symptom of what's going on with him, not the cause. They're just allowing him a facade to hide behind as he expresses his own inner feelings. I realize it's not your place to intervene, but the drugs are most likely going to destroy him; hopefully he won't take anyone else down with him.
47261
May I answer your question with a few questions of my own? First, are you absolutely, positively, 100% sure that he wants to quit smoking weed? If not, it's a lost cause. You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. It all has to do with mental capacities. If your friend hasn't set his mind to actually quitting, all the help in the world that you offer him won't mean a thing. He's got an addiction, love, and just like bad habits, they are hard to break.\n\nSecond, is he willing to let go of these other friends that he uses as a cruX to blame his addiction on? If the answer is no, I'm afraid the best thing you can do for him is pray. Let's put this to a hypothetical test:\n\nSay your friend (let's call him Karl for the sake of conversation), Karl, gets help with the addiction. He stays clean for 3 months. For being clean for 3 months, he decides to throw a party. He invites the people that he blamed his addiction on to said party. What do you think will happen by the end of the night? Do you honestly believe that Karl will leave that party clean or do you think it more likely that Karl will leave that party addicted again? He's gotta GET RID OF HIS FRIENDS.\n\nSometimes, we want the best for others. I commend you for even caring about someone that has an addiction. Far too often, we overlook these things and blame it on whatever we choose to blame it on. Yet you are actually looking for answers on how to help him. Let's review: #1) He's got to want to quit smoking this marijuana. #2) He's got to want to get rid of his friends. And just for an eXtra-added bonus, #3) He's got to want to stay clean. God bless you!\n\nHope that helped!
90520
that is a tough one because i was a meth addict before i met my 2nd husband and there has been twice in the past 10 years that we have been together that i have started using. without telling him.  igot our bills way behind and made him lose his bad credit. but he has also always been there to pick up the pieces. him and some of my other family have got me into church and now i have them plus Gods help. be careful, and good luck, and pray about it ask God what you should do but you have to really open your heart to him to hear the answer, and he may not answer it right away but no prayer goes unanswered.  God Bless You!!!
413108
Check with your local mental health department or department of human services to see if there is a local rehab he can go to.  He needs help.  I work in a pharmacy and I see so many people come through that are addicted.  You see it first hand and I know it is not pretty.  Get him help.  He might be mad at first but he will say thank you in the end.  Good luck!
365903
You should get a different job.  You SHOULD NOT be driving a school bus when you're on meth.\n\nPlease.  Please.  get another job.\n\n\nLooking at your questions - you are just a little trouble maker aren't you?!?
18204
maybe the question should be why dont they know you anymore? I watched my oldest brother steal cars, rob my mother, my aunt, uncle, steal his newborns diaper money and more for drugs. My other brother was clinicaly labeled a genius, and then he used drugs and got the bright idea to make his own acid. Now he lives on a "crazy check" and doesn't even have a GED. My father was an alcoholic, beat the wife, etc.\n\nin the end its truly up to you. I'm not going to tell you you're evil, but i will tell you this:\n\nThis Sh**  can F*** you up. Do you want to be that girl who offers to suck we eny for drugs? You might not think it can happen to you, but better than safe than sorry. Stop before you have to deal with withdrawals. before you hurt someone that you dont want to
443544
there are really good chances of your friend staying clean with the right treatment and help. I think this is the wrong place because you have stupid people saying there is no chance, but then really nice people like there have been being supportive which is exactly what ure friend needs at this time, if people dont believe him/her why should he believe in himself? People seem to forget that everyone make mistakes in life and is a learning process. Im currently doing a degree in mental health and there are so many things to help your friend, sadly addicts only seem to realise when they hit rock bottom and lose everything, but that could be a good thing as they learn to pick themselves up again, please dont pay anyattention to people being narrow minded its because they dont understand addiction or are ignorant, he has a good friend by the sounds of it and that what they need, SUPPORT so the best thing is to go to the GP and see if they can get involved in some sort of therapy or interest. One of my favourites is art therapy and it creates so much self awareness and a new focus on life ! something different and rewarding with lots of love and support from loved ones like friends and family i hope ive been some help and good luck to him everyone deserves a second chance !
94787
I would suggest that they speak to a drug counsellor. Alternatively, you might want to speak with a drug counsellor yourself to see what they might suggest. If there are others in your family concerned about him, you might want to have a meeting with them and see what you can do.\n\nI would talk with him and say that you are prepared to help if he decides that he needs to get off the drugs.  Above all, you should speak to him honestly, openly, consistently and listening to his concerns - it sounds like you are doing this.
205694
Addiction is tough.  Especially when you're broke, need money, and know an easy place to get it.\n\nMy first suggestion... write down everything that makes you suspect this person.  This lets you clear your head and think about your thoughts before you confront the person.  Once you've written it down, look it over.  Does it look like enough of circumstances to put together into robbery?  \n\nIf it still seems like it is... call your friend up and meet in a public place to talk.  (People can get emotional when they're confronted).  Ask POLITELY.  Or bring it up and say that you had a lot of money go missing... does he know of anyone who might have taken it (look at his reaction).  If he denies it, tell him/her of your suspicions.  Tell him/her that it's time to find a new job, or perhaps suggest that he/she does some work where you don't pay him/her to make up the difference.\n\nIf it goes bad, you could always call the police.  But that would guarantee a lost friendship...
493807
This is quite typical.  Coke "givers" don't EVER have really true friends who use with them... despite quite emphatic claims to the contrary made by most of those "friends" he's supplying.   So I give you credit for admitting at least that to yourself.  But more hard honesty is needed I'm afraid.   Just because you manage to go a few weeks without using it, doesn't mean you're not addicted yourself.  If you find yourself thinking about it, and desiring it, and doing something you otherwise wouldn't in order to get it (i.e., going out with him) then you've got your own level of addiction brewing, and the sooner you admit that, the better off you'll be.  We're talking coke here, so... do I really need to point out that you're ultimately just trading sex for drugs?  Newsflash!  He doesn't love you either!  Coke is absolutely and unbelievably addictive, so don't be too quick to make him out to be the bad-guy.  He's the coke "giver" -- knowing he can't "catch" you without it -- that probably being the closest concept he has to actual "love".   But you are the USER -- and fully responsible for completing this little equation.   Getting out of an addictive relationship can be torture for ANYONE.  Adding cocaine to the picture, and thinking you can do it yourself is just plain naiive.  Use your wisdom, get some help, and completely CUT OUT OF YOUR LIFE ANYONE WHO USES COCAINE.  That's why cocaine is such a problem... because it's such a social "thing".   Ask any truly recovered addict, (if you can find one) and they'll tell you... All those people they thought were their friends??  They were nothing but users.