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How to stop a friend from getting into hard drugs?
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| Blake |
So I've got a friend several years younger than myself who has only really had experience drinking and smoking bud and has shown serious interest in experimenting with various substances. That, I can understand as being typical for a 21 - 22 yr old. My problem is, he seems to be really fixated on amphetamines. Caffeine pills weren't enough, so he started stacking with ephedrine. That wasn't enough, so he went for adderall in higher and higher doses. First only during critical times like final exams, but eventually he'd just take it just to take it, always saying that he barely felt it or that it wasn't producing the effects he was looking for. Still no big deal really, but I can see where this is going...
So maybe a week & a half ago he tells me he cooked up and tested a small amount of methamphetamine. He tells me he doesn't think it worked that well, but that he's been awake for a couple of days and plans to make more (which I think he's already done). He's a science student with all the resources to do so, and as someone who's overcome glass addiction myself some four years ago (and still paying for it), I could see the direction he was headed in months ago but didn't think anything of it since it's so hard to come by in the city.
The path he's on is a pretty awful one and it's hard to watch the obsession and neurosis (he's already paranoid as ) etc. I kind of feel like it's Karma biting me in the ass b/c for the first time I'm starting to experience what I probably put my friends & family through in the past.
As I'm the only one of our friends who doesn't outright flip out at the mention of hard substances, I'm the only one he's told about this and he's (of course) asked me not to mention it to any of our friends (whom are either drug free or stick to smoking / drinking).
Is there any good way I can try to get him to put the breaks on what he's doing and choose a healthier direction? :confused:
At first I wasn't sure how to feel, knowing that there wasn't much my friends could do to stop me back when I first started with it, but now having been down that path and seeing that my friend is motivated enough to make it himself, I'm determined to intervene. I just don't know if there's any way to do so effectively without risking him telling me to off, and then continuing to use anyway. How can I stop this from going where I know it's headed? |
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| Meat187 |
Give him some ******** posts to read. That should scare him off.
Seriously though, other than a honest and direct talk there's probably not much you can do. People make their own choices, and if he wants to it up he will. |
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| Sushipunk |
Blake, can you clarify what you meant by 'he cooked up and tested'? You said he's a science student or whatever, is he making it himself? Or did you mean 'cooked up', like to inject?
Does this guy know about your past with glass? If not, it might be a good time to swallow your pride (not really the phrase I was looking for, but it will suffice for now) and sit down and tell him all about it, and how destructive it can be. ESPECIALLY if he's started injecting speed. That is bad news.
Edit: Sorry, I misread what you wrote. He's making it himself. Not a good idea... |
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| Lira |
He's a science student and he's making amphetamines? What the hell!? Pfftt... even I can stay up for a couple of days, and all I need is some cappuccino! Tell him girls like guys with super powers and see if he can come up with a formula to make him breathe underwater!
Actually, scrap that, just sit down and tell him step by step how painful your glass addiction was. If that doesn't stop him, I'm afraid nothing will :( |
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| couch-potato |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
Actually, scrap that, just sit down and tell him step by step how painful your glass addiction was. If that doesn't stop him, I'm afraid nothing will :( |
He could mention an impending problem with his other friends and possibly his family, although that could easily come off as a threat (in the sense of, "If you keep this up I'm telling!") or breaking his trust and could make the situation worse (albeit raising awareness that people in his life do need to get involved).
I don't see this as being a one-confrontation deal, you'll have to stick around and help him through it...amusement parks, playing the vidya (Halo Reach co-op, etc.), corn dogs together sitting on a pier during sunsets, etc. |
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| Meat187 |
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| Bierheld |
Knowing what's happening is one thing, convincing him of it is another.
Indeed i'd say just talk and tell him amphetamines are rubbish like that in that you never really get what you're looking for and you are just hopelessly chasing past experiences. As long as that's in the back of his head he might eventually come to his senses, as i did. But you can't really force it.
A temporary solution might be to tell him to seek elsewere. Maybe in XTC or psychadelics. Although it sounds like a thing to do, it actually worked wonders in my case as they really make you see that speed is useless and as a bonus those substances aren't nearly as addictive.
However, from reading your post it might already be too late, if he has a physical addiction that is. |
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| Dj Dizzy |
| quote: | Originally posted by Bierheld
Knowing what's happening is one thing, convincing him of it is another.
Indeed i'd say just talk and tell him amphetamines are rubbish like that in that you never really get what you're looking for and you are just hopelessly chasing past experiences. As long as that's in the back of his head he might eventually come to his senses, as i did. But you can't really force it.
A temporary solution might be to tell him to seek elsewere. Maybe in XTC or psychadelics. Although it sounds like a thing to do, it actually worked wonders in my case as they really make you see that speed is useless and as a bonus those substances aren't nearly as addictive.
However, from reading your post it might already be too late, if he has a physical addiction that is. |
+1
i don't like amps in general unless it's a psychedelic amphetamine but have been down the path with opiates bad enough to relate. the problem with mdma and psychedelics is that opiates/amphetamines actually perpetuate this compulsive behavior and he can become compulsive with the less/non-addictive compounds like mdma/psychedelics because of that. i've been down that road too. but i agree, substituting meth with something else, mind expanding or much less addictive euphoriant is a big step in the right direction. psychedelics would be his best bet IMHO as a substitute, he may catch an outside glimpse of what his life has become and it might scare the hell out of him, but that's a BIG maybe. it'd be wise for you to be his sitter if he's not experienced. for the love of God hope he doesn't decide to have his cake and eat it too, do meth and combine with these other drugs.
definitely tell him you're experience, don't harp it on him, just come from the heart with it. as stated above, let him know that it's a chase where you never obtain what you want, let him know where the chase led you and how you felt about it. don't accuse him of being addicted or anything else, just tell your side of the story. accusations will cause his walls to come up even if you mean well.
this is all you can do, you cannot make up his mind for him. if he ignores your story and decides to learn the hard way for himself then there's no way for you to stop him. you can be there for him but keep in mind, he may lose himself down this road and cause damage to your life if you keep him too close or maybe even get you back into it if you're around it enough (if he's making it, he'll probably always have it around). try to help him but you may have to space yourself from him because as someone who's had a problem with it in the past you don't want to be around it all the time again do you? i can't tell you how many friends i've had fall back because their friends were still on it and had it around all the time so it became the norm, then became not that big of a deal, then spiraled out of control... again.. for the umpteenth time. it's sad but i've had to abandon friends because they became toxic. some of them never came back from "learning the hard way" and not all of them are still living. some of them i still talk to from time to time because they are constantly trying but float back and forth, others i just had to cut out entirely and disappear. |
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| epicaricacy |
| you could always make his meth lab explode...dead people don't start drugs. |
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| Silky Johnson |
| People don't/won't change unless they can acknowledge they have a problem, and are willing to change. |
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| epicaricacy |
| you can also write to A & E. they will help you. |
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| ChemEnhanced |
| just give him a hot dose.....he won't be doing anymore drugs |
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