Once an Addict Always an Addict!

Once an Addict Always and Addict seems to get bandied around a lot, especially in the rooms of N.A. In a survey done by MO addicts reveal their attitudes towards such a claim!

Labeled for Life?

MyMO  asked survey respondents to explain why they agree or disagree with the statement, “once an addict, always an addict.” Several of their opinions are listed below:

• “I know people who were an addict and they have been clean for many, many years.”

• “A person can go to rehab and come out clean and stay clean.”

• “It’s going to be really hard, but it’s possible. I know someone who was an addict and got put in prison for it and it changed his whole life. When he got out of prison, he wasn’t an addict anymore. It’s possible to stop.”

• “No matter if you get help or anything, the want is always going to be there and anything could trigger that feeling.”

• “Addiction is something you are born with.”

• “I have seen many of my friends and family get help because they wanted it and are 100 percent cured of the habit. Even if they start using them again, at one point they were not a necessity for them.”

• “Even though they are not addicted to drugs they could have another type of addiction.”

• “People can change and get a second chance.”

•“Once you’re addicted you can never stop.”

• “You can always get yourself help and if you really want to stop with drugs you can gain control and stop.”

• “People who get addicted to drugs could go to rehab and end up not being addicted to the drug or have the want/need to start another drug. However, sometimes they just can’t live without the drug because it has become a huge part of their life, which is pretty sad.”

• “If you are a very strong person, you have a chance of stopping if you get enough help and you have supportive family helping you through it.”

• “People can always change even in the most dire situation.”

• “Anything is possible with God.”

• “Some people get past their addiction completely and decide to live a better, more responsible lifestyle. Although a lot of addicts get cured and do go back to using drugs again.”

• “People can’t quit. It is very hard.”

• “One of my older cousins had smoked for many years. A few years ago, he stopped suddenly because he felt ‘it getting too expensive.’ He found a new, non-dangerous habit and has not smoked since.”

• “Rehab and counseling can help people overcome the bad choices they have made in their life.”

• “My parents were both cocaine addicts and alcoholics for over 15 years, and today they are both clean and sober. My sister was also addicted to cocaine and alcohol and today she is clean and sober as well.”

• “I think whether you quit doing drugs or not, your addiction will never go away. Just because you stop using drugs doesn’t mean that they’re not on your mind all the time. It doesn’t mean that you stop physically and mentally feel like you need it to go on. I believe the addiction is always there, but it is more than possible to quit using.”

• “They will always be addicted to that drug but that doesn’t mean they will always take it.”

• “I have alcoholics in my family, and they no longer drink; though they still struggle with it every day.”

• “It depends on if the person wanted to change in the first place or not.”

• “Yes, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible for someone with a drug or alcohol addiction to stop using drugs or drinking. It just means that they will never be able to use these substances casually again without falling back into their addiction.”

• “Even if you go to rehab if you and are still around the drugs or alcohol you’ll probably be tempted by it and want to try it again, even if you think you got over it and think one little drink isn’t going to hurt me. Everything can hurt you. Even if it is one drink or one drug.”

What do you think?

Is once an addict always an addict an accurate statement?

Heroin

Heroin (diacetylmorphine or morphine diacetate)

Heroin also known as smack, the gear and horse was originally synthesised by C. R. Alder Wright in 1874 by by adding two acetyl groups to the molecule morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. Originally the drug was designed to help soldiers who had come back from the war to overcome their morphine addiction. The drug was patented by the Bayer chemical company and was prescribed often.

The drug was later withdrawn from the market because of its highly addictive nature. Many sufferers found that the withdrawal from heroin was in fact more severe than the withdrawals that they had previously suffered from morphine.

The most popular method of using the drug is through intravenous injection. Other forms of the use are smoking and in some cases through suppositories. Once the drug has been broken down by the liver it restores itself to its original form which is morphine.

Most people who become addicted to heroin have to commit crimes in order to maintain their habit. Many addicts will do at least a 10 year addiction cycle on the drug before they get help usually through a long-term rehabilitation program.

Once the withdrawal symptoms start, which will happen in as little as 24 hours from the last dose, the addict will suffer and experience extreme bouts of diarrhoea, vomiting and a general feeling of absolute shit! These withdrawal symptoms are the addict’s biggest fear, and this is why he or she must at all costs maintain a continual supply of the drug. Heroin possesses the very soul of its users and slowly but surely strips away any self-respect, morals or decency that the person previously had!

Once the physical symptoms have subsided which usually happens about seven days later, the addict must start to deal with the psychological and emotional withdrawals from the drug which in many cases can feel a lot worse than the physical ones. Many recovering addicts will continue to attend self-help groups such as narcotics anonymous, but many will struggle in the early years and will often relapsed.

Some treatment methods or Heroin and replacement programs, include methadone, naltrexone and bupranorphine.

Most of the heroin on the street market is manufactured in backyard laboratories and is cut with a substance known as mannitol by up to 10 times. Heroin manufacturers use mannitol because dissolves easily and water. Every now and then a stronger batch of heroin hits the street, during this time we will see many people lose their lives as a result of heroin overdose.

Heroin is highly addictive!

Heroin overdose results in shutting down of the automatic respiratory system, resulting in a lack of oxygen to the brain, resulting in death.

Heroin is often referred to as the king of drugs because of the euphoric feeling that its users experience. When you are high on heroin all your cares and fears worries and frustrations seem to disappear into a cloudy haze.

Recovering heroin users will lament not only the physical feelings of the drug but also the activities and a lifestyle that used to revolve around the obtaining and the using of the drug.