Drug Info FAQ: Part 2

Is it Risky to Associate with People Who are Using Drugs if I am Not Using Them Myself?

Yes, it could be dangerous to associate with these people. For one thing, no matter how determined a person is to not use drugs, for most people there will finally come a day when they get curious or get so much pressure from those around them that they give in and try the marijuana, alcohol or other drug being used. People using drugs usually do not like to be around with people who never use drugs. They know, at some level, that they are harming themselves and a sober person in their midst will make this all the more apparent.

The other reason it is dangerous to hang out with drug-using people is that there are illegal activities going on. Even if you are not involved in them yourself, you run the risk of being arrested if the car you are in has drugs in it and is searched by the police or if you are in the home of a person who has drugs stashed in a closet when the police come. There are also crimes committed in the business of dealing drugs. For example, a person who owes money to a drug dealer may be beaten or killed and if you are nearby, you may also be harmed.

Is it Safer to Use Prescription Drugs Recreationally Than to Abuse Street/Illicit Drugs?

It is not safer to abuse prescription drugs than use street drugs. More than ten thousand people die from prescription painkiller abuse each year, more than the number who die from cocaine and heroin abuse combined. It is very easy to overdose on these drugs when they are used in an uncontrolled fashion or they may have a fatal effect on a person’s existing health condition.

Why Do People Who Become Addicted Get into Such Terrible Condition?

Unfortunately, when a person becomes addicted to drugs, the cravings drive his or her decisions. The person’s cravings for drugs can be so strong that they feel it is more vital to satisfy that craving than deal with any other need. The necessity to obtain and use the addictive drugs can seem as compelling as the need to breathe. This is why a person can neglect his own health, can pawn, sell or trade everything of value, can steal from those he loves and can ignore or abuse his children or spouse. An addicted person usually becomes less and less concerned with eating properly and caring for himself and his possessions, the longer he is addicted. This has to do with the fact that drug use lowers awareness. He simply becomes less aware of his deteriorating health, his filthy home, and his criminal associates.

How Do People Who are Addicted Change?

An addicted person knows that he (or she) is harming himself and others when he abuses drugs. This knowledge will create a deterioration in personal integrity and self-respect, the longer it goes on. The effect of the drugs and the physical damage they do, along with the harm being done to one’s family, friends and future hopes normally results in depression. An addicted person also feels guilty for the bad acts that were committed, but the continued use of drugs will usually obliterate these feelings.

Additionally, drugs can create other mental conditions such as paranoia, anxiety, even symptoms of schizophrenia. Drugs seem to bring out the worst in many people and destroy the person’s best qualities. The good news is that for most people, a thorough, eight to ten-week drug rehabilitation program like the Narconon program can help them walk all the way back to a healthy, positive outlook again. It’s not something that happens overnight. After all, both the physical damage and the mental damage must be repaired.

The physical healing can be assisted by a thorough detoxification action. At Narconon, this detoxification is accomplished by combining time in a sauna with moderate daily exercise and a strict regimen of nutritional supplements. In just a few weeks, a person can experience a resurgence of his or her own ability to think clearly.

Most people report reduced cravings, as well. This step of recovery is followed by a comprehensive address to the mental and moral damage done by addiction in the life skills portion of the Narconon program. For example, on the Personal Values Course, a person learns how integrity is destroyed and how they can recover their self-respect. Before completing this course, he (or she) applies this information to himself all the way to the point of great relief and recovery of self-respect. By the time a person finishes the entire Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, a person understands how this problem started and how to stay sober in the future. This means that he or she has truly been rehabilitated.

For more Frequently Asked Questions, see: Drug Information FAQ Part 1