Terminalcoffee discussion

I'll have to lurk as I have no experience with this.

Same here. *crosses fingers behind back*

Back in college, my best friend's sister was married to a pot head who eventually ended up in prison for various offenses (surprisingly not directly drug related).

While he was "away," she divorced him and married a goldsmith. Turns out that the goldsmith spent most evenings getting coked up at their apartment (this was the '80s).

When she finally caught on that most of their income was going up his nose, she divorced him and married a very nice man she had met while running the jewelry store.

Following a surgery to repair something internal so she could have a baby, she accidentally overdosed one night on pain medication and never woke up in the morning.

Julie was 27 at the time of her death.

Is there such a thing as an "honest" drug habit? Perhaps there is, though if you'd like I could share another story or two about people whose lives fell apart because of cocaine.

You can keep your "altered state." I don't want anything to do with it.

When I think of "altered state" I think of Utah.

I played with cannabis and a couple of other chemicals in my youth. And for me, that's going back a ways.

How do I feel about hallucinogens? I guess I don't understand the question.

I've never used them, certainly, and I don't understand others' desires to do so. Or maybe I understand it but can't empathize with it. Either way, I'm quite satisfied with reality and am not looking to escape it in any mind-altering way.

I'm not sure how Phil's story leads anyone to "know" that husband 1 and 2 were addicts.
I'm also not sure I'm following you, Savanna, as it seems you're saying "they were grabbed by the throat and strangled. Me, I've just got an honest drug habit."
By that do you mean you take illegal substances or take more of legal stuff and still have a job?

Phil, I'm sorry about your friend's sister.

Thanks, Carol. It has been over 23 years and her parents still suffer the heartbreak of losing their daughter.

I've done my share over the past 40 years - more than enough to stagger a rhino - but I've never considered myself addicted to anything.

Condolences, Phil.

Thanks for clearing that up! I wish you the best.

I had a lovely friend that had back surgery from a skiing injury. She got addicted to prescription pain medications. She was miserable and wanted off the roller coaster. Her doctor did NOTHING to help her break this cycle. He kept upping the doses. Her friends and family tried to work with her and the doctor but the doctor said he had to 'respect her privacy'. She lost her brillant job and survived on disability income because she was a drug addict.

She overdosed on prescription pain drugs from her doctor. She was 27, bright and beautiful with a sweet little kid. It all happened in a year. I blame the profit driven drug companies and doctors who just don't give a shit.

Just because it is legal doesn't make it safe or OK.

Sorry about your friend, Cheri. That must have been agonizing to watch unfold.

People who are addicted to anything and run out of money steal from anyone they can, beginning with family.

Phil wrote: "Sorry about your friend, Cheri. That must have been agonizing to watch unfold."

That is horrible, Cheri. I know someone who had a similar problem, but ended up in jail rather than overdosing. It was difficult to be close to.

I agree that the drug companies and the doctors in their pockets share some responsibility for the painkiller addictions. My dad, who doesn't take prescription painkillers, was prescribed 30!! Oxycodone after an outpatient surgery a few weeks ago. He took Tylenol instead and did fine with pain management. Why in the hell would someone need 30 oxys to do what a few Tylenol could? It's insanity.

And yet, often people who actually need those pain killers get treated like drug addicts.

I was engaged to a (at the time in recovery) heroin addict back in the 90's. I went to Nar-anon and "worked the program". Wow! I really learned a lot about myself, my tendency to try to "save" people going back to my father and effectually making me behave in a "co-dependent" manner. Opened my eyes right up. I changed a lot of my behaviors and I realized the unhealthy nature of my relationship with my finance. He was extremely controlling, 12 years older, and I allowed it!

I wouldn't have changed that experience for anything, it really helped me grow as a person. Glad I didn't marry him though.

I'm glad you didn't, too.

This thread breaks my heart. My attitude toward addicts has changed a great deal since the days of my youth. I remember finding so many male addicts mysterious and charming. They have definitely lost their charm for me.

I've been fortunate not to come across that many of them, and thus not be susceptible to finding them mysterious and charming. I knew a fair number of heavy drinkers/partiers/drugs users in my younger years, but I didn't date them or stay friends with them. Our worlds just drifted apart. I met males who were jerks in other ways, just not the ways of addicts.