the lure of drugs...

[pav186]

I should start out by saying that I never thought drugs would ever play a part in my life. I grew up in a middle - upper class area, went to some of the best public schools in NY, and had a supportive family. My life was far from that of the stereotypical drug user. I hadn't touched drugs until I was 17 and even then it was marijuana and I didnt even really like it. When my brothers started I was moderately critical of them for doing "drugs." But I decided to tag along with them a few times and started to really enjoy it. It doesnt even take a big step into the drug culture to find yourself inundated in the stuff. The crazy thing is that drugs really are everywhere, if you're not in the scene you wouldnt even notice it was there but its all around you.

 

Fast forward 4 years...

 

Now Ive done ecstasy (70pills), marijuana (avg 5x/week for 4 yrs), shrooms (once) , amphetamine (?), cocaine (3 times), opium (once), ritalin(?), xanax(?), vicodin(?), percocet(?) etc...

 

I'm aware that I likely have a substance abuse problem but there is something exciting about the whole drug scene that makes it hard for me to stay away from it. In an earlier post faux talked about just enjoying everything about drinking from the smell to the taste etc. Thats exactly how it is for me. Everything from buying drugs to using them is exciting... slickly passin off money for pills at the club was one of my favorite parts of doing E. The drip from blowing coke sucks in some aspects but is also satisfying, the ritual of packing a bong, the taste of the smoke...

 

It's hard to explain but the hardcore partying lifestyle is just hard for me to resist and i know that i'm not ready to give it up yet... so where does this leave me? I wouldnt say i'm an addict... but maybe have the potential to become one?

[HokeyReligions]

I'm aware that I likely have a substance abuse problem

Likely! Ya think!

 

I wouldnt say i'm an addict

I would.

 

Get some help and stop using drugs. You are not only hurting yourself, you are costing me money and you are helping to fund those who wish to destroy America.

[pav186]

how do I cost you money?

 

i dont know if im an addict because I went to a diagnosis for some issues with depression that i've been having and I was told that I'm not technically addicted because my use patterns dont meet the requirements to be labeled addiction, thats the only reason I said I wasnt an addict. But obviously they did say I have a substance abuse problem ...

[HokeyReligions]

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/addictiv.htm

 

My hard-earned tax dollars go for police and prosecution costs; higher insurance costs and higher costs on goods because of drug-related thefts. Whether you yourself have stolen anything doesn't matter -- your drug use supports those who do. I'm am barely making ends meet but I'm paying the cost for your drug use. I can't afford my own prescription drugs - things that I need to stay alive, because I'm paying for selfish, arrogant, and ignorant drug abusers who just take and take and take and don't even realize or care how much their selfishness costs others.

 

I would rather pay for your treatment. Here is some information about costs. There is a LOT more information at the website I provided above. These are just snippits of free information. Get off drugs and do something with your life.

 

Treatment Costs

"Domestic enforcement costs 4 times as much as treatment for a given amount of user reduction, 7 times as much for consumption reduction, and 15 times as much for societal cost reduction."

Source: Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S., Controlling Cocaine, Prepared for the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the United States Army (Santa Monica, CA: Drug Policy Research Center, RAND Corporation, 1994), p. xvi.

 

"An additional cocaine-control dollar generates societal cost savings of 15 cents if used for source-country control, 32 cents if used for interdiction, and 52 cents if used for domestic enforcement. In contrast, the savings from treatment programs are larger than control costs: an additional cocaine-control dollar generates societal cost savings of $7.48 if used for treatment."

Source: Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S., Controlling Cocaine, Prepared for the Office of National Drug Control Policy

 

The RAND Corporation found that the additional spending needed to achieve a 1% reduction in the number of cocaine users varies according to the sort of program used, and that treatment is the most cost-effective:

Control Program Additional spending needed to achieve a 1% reduction in number of cocaine users

Source-Country Control = $2,062,000,000

Interdiction = $964,000,000

Domestic Enforcement = $675,000,000

 

Source: Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S., Controlling Cocaine, Prepared for the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the United States Army (Santa Monica, CA: Drug Policy Research Center, RAND Corporation, 1994), p. 36.

 

In 2002, federal funding for drug treatment totaled $3,587,500,000, representing 19.1% of the $18,822,800,000 drug war budget. The FY2003 request for treatment funding was $3,811,700,000, which represents 19.9% of the $19,179,700,000 requested drug war budget. Combined, federal prevention and treatment funding -- the demand-side -- totaled $6,136,100,000 in FY2002, and a requested $6,285,100,000 for FY2003. Law enforcement and interdiction -- the supply-side of the equation -- ate up the remaining two-thirds of federal drug war spending, or $12,686,700,000 in FY2002, and $12,894,600,000 requested in FY2003.

Source: "National Drug Control Strategy: FY2003 Budget Summary," Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) (Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President, Feb. 2002), p. 6, Table 2.

 

According to the National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study (NTIES), "The results show substantial reductions in criminal behavior and arrests after treatment: Selling drugs declined by 78 percent; Those who reported shoplifting declined by almost 82 percent; Before treatment, almost half the respondents reported "beating someone up." Following treatment that number declined to 11 percent; a 78 percent decrease; Changes in arrest rates were less striking than those in self-reported criminal behavior, but the 64 percent reduction in arrests for any crime was still dramatic; and The percentage who largely supported themselves through illegal activity dropped by nearly half - decreasing more than 48 percent."

Source: National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, US Dept. of Health and Human Services, "National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study - Costs of Treatment," from the web at http://www.health.org/govstudy/f027/crime.aspx, last accessed Jan. 27, 2004.

 

According to the 1997 National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study (NTIES), "Treatment appears to be cost effective, particularly when compared to incarceration, which is often the alternative. Treatment costs ranged from a low of about $1,800 per client to a high of approximately $6,800 per client. While the cost of incarceration was not examined by NTIES, widely reported studies such as one reported by the American Correctional Association, gave an estimated 1994 cost of incarceration as $18,330 annually."

Source: National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, US Dept. of Health and Human Services, "National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study - Costs of Treatment," from the web at http://www.health.org/govstudy/f027/costs.aspx, last accessed Jan. 27, 2004.

 

In January 2001, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University published an analysis of costs to states from tobacco, alcohol and other drug addiction. According to the report, "States report spending $2.5 billion a year on treatment. States did not distinguish whether the treatment was for alcohol, illicit drug abuse or nicotine addiction. Of the $2.5 billion total, $695 million is spent through the departments of health and $633 million through the state substance abuse agencies. We believe that virtually all of these funds are spent on alcohol and illegal drug treatment."

Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, "Shoveling Up: The Impact of Substance Abuse on State Budgets" (New York, NY: CASA, Jan. 2001), p. 24.

 

In January 2001, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University published an analysis of costs to states from tobacco, alcohol and other drug addiction. According to the report, "The justice system spends $433 million on treatment: $149 million for state prison inmates; $103 million for those on probation and parole; $133 million for juvenile offenders; $46 million to help localities treat offenders; $1 million on drug courts. Treatment provided by mental health institutions for co-morbid patients totals $241 million. The remaining $492 million is for the substance abuse portion of state employee assistance programs ($97 million), treatment programs for adults involved in child welfare services ($4.5 million) and capital spending for the construction of treatment facilities ($391 million). (Figure 4.B)"

Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, "Shoveling Up: The Impact of Substance Abuse on State Budgets (New York, NY: CASA, Jan. 2001), p. 24.

 

"The Panel anxiously awaits the time when the disease of addiction is no longer treated as a criminal justice issue, but as a public health problem. Moreover, the Panel embraces the notion of a society that enables any individual with a substance abuse problem, regardless of criminal history, to receive treatment in a safe and respectful environment. The Panel hopes to create a climate in which people who are at risk for, suffering from, or in recovery from alcohol or other drug addiction are valued and treated with dignity."

Source: US Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, "Changing the Conversation: Improving Substance Abuse Treatment: The National Treatment Plan Initiative; Panel Reports, Public Hearings, and Participant Acknowledgements" (Washington, DC: SAMHSA, November 2000), p. 41.

 

"According to the ONDCP's 1999 National Drug Control Strategy, there are approximately 4 million chronic drug users in the United States. This closely aligns with the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, which found that 4.1 million people were in need of drug treatment. The NIAAA report, Improving the Delivery of Alcohol Treatment and Prevention Services, estimates there are 14 million alcohol abusers, whereas the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse finds approximately 9.7 million people in need of alcohol treatment. Regardless of the source, a conservative estimate of those in need of substance abuse treatment is between 13 and 16 million people. In contrast, both the 1997 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Managing Managed Care, and the 1998 National Household Survey conclude that approximately 3 million people receive care for alcohol or drugs in one year. Although, as previously stated, neither the estimates of need nor the estimates of those in treatment are all inclusive, the picture remains the same - more than 10 million people who need treatment each year are not receiving it."

 

Source: US Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, "Changing the Conversation: Improving Substance Abuse Treatment: The National Treatment Plan Initiative; Panel Reports, Public Hearings, and Participant Acknowledgements" (Washington, DC: SAMHSA, November 2000), p. 6.

 

A study by researchers at Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration has indicated that 48% of the need for drug treatment, not including alcohol abuse, is unmet in the United States.

Source: Woodward, A., Epstein, J., Gfroerer, J., Melnick, D., Thoreson, R., and Wilson, D., "The Drug Abuse Treatment Gap: Recent Estimates," Health Care Financing Review, 18: 5-17 (1997).

 

Treatment decreased welfare use by 10.7% and increased employment by 18.7% after one year, according to the 1996 National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study.

Source: Center for Substance Abuse and Treatment, National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1996), p. 11.

 

A study of heroin maintenance in Switzerland for the World Health Organization concluded:

A. The health of participants improved.

B. Illicit cocaine and heroin use declined greatly.

C. Housing situation improved and stabilized- most importantly there were no longer any more homeless participants.

D. Fitness for work improved considerably, those with permanent employment more than doubled from 14% to 32%.

E. The number of unemployed fell by half (from 44% to 20%)

F. A third of the patients that were on welfare, left the welfare rolls. But, others went on to welfare to compensate for their lost income from sales of drugs.

G. Income from illegal and semi-legal activities decreased significantly, from 69% of participants to 10%.

H. The number of offenders and offenses decreased by about 60% during the first 6 months of treatment.

I. The retention rate was average for treatment programs. 89% over 6 months, and 69% over 18 months.

J. More than half of the dropouts did so to switch to another form of treatment. 83 of the participants did so to switch to an abstinence-based treatment, and it is expected that this number will grow as the duration of individual treatment increases.

K. There were no overdoses from drugs prescribed by the program.

Source: Robert Ali, et al, Report of the External Panel on the Evaluation of the Swiss Scientific Studies of Medically Prescribed Narcotics to Drug Addicts (New York, NY: The World Health Organization, April 1999).

 

In 1996, voters in Arizona passed an initiative which mandated drug treatment instead of prison for non-violent drug offenders. At the end of the first year of implementation, Arizona's Supreme Court issued a report which found:

A) Arizona taxpayers saved $2.6 million in one year;

B) 77.5% of drug possession probationers tested negative for drug use after the program;

The Court stated, "The Drug Medicalization, Prevention and Control Act of 1996 has allowed the judicial branch to build an effective probation model to treat and supervise substance abusing offenders... resulting in safer communities and more substance abusing probationers in recovery."

Source: State of Arizona Supreme Court, Drug Treatment and Education Fund: Implementation Full Year Report: Fiscal Year 1997-1998, 1999.

 

According to CASA (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse), the cost of proven treatment for inmates, accompanied by education, job training and health care, would average about $6,500 per inmate. For each inmate that becomes a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen, the economic benefit is $68,800. Even if only one in 10 inmates became a law-abiding citizen after this investment, there would still be a net social gain of $3,800.

Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, Behind Bars: Substance Abuse and America's Prison Population, (New York, NY: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, January 8, 1998), Foreword by Joseph Califano.

 

Treatment availability for drug and alcohol addicted prison inmates has declined over the last decade:

Among those prisoners who had been using drugs in the month before their offense, 15% of both State and Federal inmates said they had received drug abuse treatment during their current prison term, down from a third of such offenders in 1991.

 

Among those who were using drugs at the time of offense, about 18% of both State and Federal prisoners reported participation in drug treatment since admission, compared to about 40% in 1991.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Substance Abuse and Treatment, State and Federal Prisoners, 1997 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, January 1999), p. 10.

 

"Despite the many factors that contribute to the gap, the Panel agrees with many in the field that inadequate funding for substance abuse treatment is a major part of the problem. Over the last decade, spending on substance abuse prevention and treatment has increased, albeit more slowly than overall health spending, to an estimated annual total of $12.6 billion in 1996 (McKusick, Mark, King, Harwood, Buck, Dilonardo, and Genuardi, 1998). Of this amount, public spending is estimated at $7.6 billion (McKusick, et al., 1998). The public spending includes dollars from Medicaid and Medicare, as well as other Federal funds from the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Administration, the Department of Justice, and the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant. The SAPT Block Grant provides Federal support to addiction prevention and treatment services nationally through State and local governments. Private spending includes individual out-of-pocket payment, insurance, and other nonpublic sources, and is estimated at $4.7 billion (McKusick, et al., 1998)."

Source: US Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, "Changing the Conversation: Improving Substance Abuse Treatment: The National Treatment Plan Initiative; Panel Reports, Public Hearings, and Participant Acknowledgements" (Washington, DC: SAMHSA, November 2000), p. 12.

 

"One of the main reasons for the higher outlay in public spending is the frequently limited coverage of substance abuse treatment by private insurers. Although 70 percent of drug users are employed and most have private health insurance, 20 percent of public treatment funds were spent on people with private health insurance in 1993, due to limitations on their policy (ONDCP, 1996b). In the view of the Panel, private insurers should serve as the primary source of coverage, with public insurance serving as the safety net."

Source: US Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, "Changing the Conversation: Improving Substance Abuse Treatment: The National Treatment Plan Initiative; Panel Reports, Public Hearings, and Participant Acknowledgements" (Washington, DC: SAMHSA, November 2000), p. 12.

 

"'Changing The Conversation' initiated the first intensive exploration of the stigmas and attitudes that affect people with alcohol and drug problems. The Panel addressed stigma as a powerful, shame-based mark of disgrace and reproach that impedes treatment and recovery. Prejudicial attitudes and beliefs generate and perpetuate stigma; therefore, people suffering from alcohol and/or drug problems and those in recovery are often ostracized, discriminated against, and deprived of basic human rights. Their families, treatment providers, and even researchers may face comparable stigmas and attitudes. Ironically, stigmatized individuals often endorse the attitudes and practices that stigmatize them. They may internalize this thinking and behavior, which consequently becomes part of their identity and sense of self-worth.

"Public support and public policy are influenced by addiction stigma. Addiction stigma delays acknowledging the disease and inhibits prevention, care, treatment, and research. It diminishes the life opportunities of the stigmatized."

 

Source: US Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, "Changing the Conversation: Improving Substance Abuse Treatment: The National Treatment Plan Initiative; Panel Reports, Public Hearings, and Participant Acknowledgements"

[shamen]

Pav, I understand the lure and I did all sorts of drugs in a past life (it feels like that anyway). But I also understand the walking away. I am totally drug free now (except caffeine, nicotine and alcohol) and I love it this way. It's the best decision that I've ever made.

 

I hope that you can see that side of it. Make some friends who don't do drugs. This is the biggest step. Get yourself into some drug counseling or Narcotics Anonymous if you can hack the god issue they add to the group help. They say you can go as an atheist, but not sure how this would work out. There are other godless groups out there too. Do some research on the web to find them.

 

You will be a better person for it and will be able to see life in a totally different way. Write more if you need to and I can tell you how my life has changed for the better and how I got out of the drug culture.

[moimeme]

You never can tell if you're going to get a bad drug. You are also never able to predict if your body will react badly.

 

What I'm saying is that you could get dead and that should be plenty of reason to quit and find some other source of excitement which is less dangerous.

[magda]

Hokey, I find it interesting that your main complaint is the cost of drug treatment and your advice is for him to seek it. Complain to your government. There is some compassion to be had here. Anyway, clearly pav is in the denial stage of seeking help. Still doesn't realize s/he actually needs it. Let me say that anyone has the potential to be an addict and the thing that makes you an addict is how you use drugs. What do you use it for? When they start to become your every thought and get in the way of the rest of your life, a person has to weigh the pros and cons.. the cons are mostly always bad if you realize that you cannot say no to drugs and don't even trust yourself - continually break your own trust in yourself. Feel a personality change, temperament, body & health. Then you realize what you're doing. At that point (and hopefully not too low) you will just have to stop. Because for as long as you don't, you'll just slide down into the land of.. liability to society. Some people can control their recreational use of alcohol and drugs but a lot of people can't and many people slip now and then. Then they dry out and hopefully never have that problem again if they learned something about themself and cared about their life at all.

[HokeyReligions]

I also said I would rather pay for treatment then for prosecution and jail. There are many, many ways in which drug users cost all of us money.

 

I will suffer the person who is seeking help. I will gladly pay my taxes to support treatment programs that help. I will not suffer the person who brags about it and does not seek help. As far as I'm concerned - they can die. It's cheaper for me that way.

 

My mother has a lot of things wrong with her right now. ONE of her drugs is $287/month. We don't get that one because we can't afford it on top of the cost of the other drugs. My husband is diabetic and I have high blood presssure and we have other ailments as well. Our combined cost for prescriptions is over $600 a month. I can't afford that, but these selfish people who use/abuse illegal drugs find ways to afford their drugs and I have to pay to prevent it and to prosecute them AT THE COST OF OUR OWN HEALTH. If they want to kill themselves with illegal drugs -- let them. If they have tried drugs and realize how totally stupid it is and they want help to stop using drugs then I'm all for them. I would rather see someone straighten out then die, but I have no problem with the death of a drug user.

[wideawake]

Or we could just legalize/tax them all and let people actually be responsible for their own lives...

 

Nah.....too much work involved.