views on drug users

[terminate]

fair points. and yeah liam i'd include smoking and drinking. you put in your system you pay to have it taken out. not very sympathetic at this festive time am I?

[amy00]

That was me and that's my public opinion of all drugs.

[hipo8000]

This is based on a short stint as a substance abuse counselor. (Short only because it was an internship for my graduate program. Not because I chose to keep it short.)

For a long time, I didn't drink alcohol. I was religious about it (but not literally religious, just... ardent). Didn't drink through high school, college, or for years afterward. Long, undramatic story. Won't bore you with it.

I say this only to put things in perspective. As a fledgling counselor, I found myself sitting next to dozens of people who had done crack an hour earlier, had drunk some unidentified liquid they found under the sink in the hopes of getting some sort of high, etc.

I thought I would struggle with this more, given my own feelings on drinking, drugs, etc. (I drink now. Not heavily, but I'll have a beer or glass of wine.) But the truth is that everyone has a story. It's easy to talk about "them" as a group. But the fact is that drugs, at one point or another, represented someone's best effort to cope. Now, was it really a good idea? No. Obviously not. Could they have chosen another, better solution? Yes. Of course.

But nobody sets out saying "I want to lose my job, destroy my marriage, alienate my kids, and live in a homeless shelter." They simply try to find a way to cope. And get themselves into a situation that's difficult to get out of, mentally, emotionally, and often physiologically.

Obviously, I'm not advocating drug use. Far from it. Being a substance abuse counselor showed me, above all, just how much this stuff can COST someone. From esteem to actual freedom, in cases of incarceration.

That said, they're people. And when you hear their stories in person, it puts a very different perspective on things. Drugs are awful. Just God awful. But saying that isn't enough. Not if you're going to be close to a drug user (whether friend, family member, or client). There's always a story. And weeding out the central message of that story, negotiating through the lies, rationalizations, and confusion, is essential.


Stuart

[reyesr]

that reminds me, threr were some rumours dhuck liddell was on drugs and he had that long losing streak. possible proof it messes with training if he was. mind you the fight that ended his losing streak was the first ufc fight ii watched so maybe it was me that made him win.

[kevinfriend]

Sympathetic? Ah I don't know, I see where you're coming from. I guess its the same reason you have the right to be annoyed that your tax money is going towards paying for schools when you don't have kids. Why should you pay for other peoples mistakes or lack of restraint?

[cody_gaffney]

I'm going to bite my tongue a little here... I think anyone who listens to music or uses a computer is highly likely to have benefited from drugs

Mr Bill Hicks had quite a way with words :

Bill Hicks - A positive drugs story

[AokiYin]

Kids aren't mistakes, some people want to have them and corny as it sounds they are the future. They're the people that will be paying for your pension. Makes sense to educate them well so they pay more tax when they're adults. Circle of life

[mia2012]

"they are the future" bow down to me people.

[missybishi]

It's a kick up the ass you need at your time of life, not hero worship.

[tazzz]

ROFL cant blame a guy for trying