Last night, my wife was waiting for me at the local Macca's and she reported she observed a skinny bloke giving about $300 to another bloke. From her description in detail, it appears to have been a drug deal. The Police station is on the other side of the road.

I'm very interested in the experiences of other OLO contributors to this matter.

From my observations over a long period of time, the following are significant factors in the development of substance abuse.

1/ The wrong friends.
2/ The educational side of anti smoking campaigns which re-assure users that the damage can be undone in about 5 yrs of quiting....

3/ Problems with work.. fatique, pain.....and some 'helpful' workmate offers something to give you a boost..

4/ Problems with relationships. When things seem doomed.. and the feelings overcome the person, they might reach for something to numb the pain.

5/ Problems with fatigue and housework. Just a bit of this will give you the strength to get it done......

6/ Curiosity...."I wonder what this stuff is like"

7/ Social framework. It's the done thing among your peers/friends/associates....why be left out?

8/ You always think you wont become dependant.. after all, you didn't choose to be dependant.

I'd love to hear of some of those who have already intimated that they have experienced one or more of the above or.. if they have points to add to the list.

Finally... did they find a way out? and what was it?

Polycarp and others
BE ADVISED eAnt and I are family members not the same person. Due to an error on my part (I cancelled my account by mistake) for a short time we were using my login then the other. IT IS NOW SORTED.

As I have stated before I spent a number of years as a foundation member of Youth and Lifelines. I have continued these front line involvements in many other organizations since.

Recent research have shown that the problem of substance abuse/addiction is far more complex than is currently understood.
• There is significant evidence that there are genetic factors that may make certain people susceptible to addiction. This doesn’t imply that every addict ion is due to genetic causes. Nor does it excuse the abuse only that it should be understood as it impacts the manner and nature of the cure.
• Likewise there are those who are emotional addicts those who have either been overwhelmed by circumstances and are seeking respite. Likewise to cure the abuse firstly the emotional problem needs to be addressed.
• There are risk junkies who have an addiction to the endorphins etc in the brain which cause than opiate type high. In extreme cases this can have unwanted consequences.
• I have dealt with cultural or conditioned abuse.(Following in Parental influence)
• Mental illness.
• There are those unfortunates that are at the mercy of a combination of or all of the above. There is some evidence that some aboriginals are thus afflicted.
Your reasons are true but need close analysis often merely symptoms rather than the cause.
For many there are no Cures nor are there any magic bullets.
Solutions tend to be as varied as there are people who suffer.
Abstinence support groups i.e. AA are common. And offer some help But for some the emphasis on a supreme being is not appropriate.

The only absolutes are:
• that the abuser MUST WANT to fight the addiction,
• it unbelievably difficult,
• more so without support,
• and it will be a life time effort.

Thanx_Exammy...that was_all_helpful.

In regard to the point about the Supreme Being, I have to agree that trying to draw any unwilling person into faith would simply not work.

It's the same as for the addict or substance abuser who doesn't really 'want' to be helped. I can envisage some situations where the effected person might try to show that they are willing, but in fact have an ulterior motive.

My own view is, that unless the triggers are removed, i.e.. the

-Social framework.
-Relationship issues.(If_applicable)

are solved, then once the person is clear of the drugs, as soon as they return to the old environment, and the same triggers occur.. it seems to me that they are very likely to re-abuse.

For me, the ideal situation would be that a person wants not only physical renewal but also spiritual which is needed to overcome some of the very things which ended up being trigger events.

For example, in a relationship, if suspicion, mistrust, anger, revenge, lust are all parts of the natural personality, then what solution can be offered to fix these things? I suppose someone can come along and suggest that to persue such things will have negative results and outcomes..but then, if the person feels comfortable with themselves, they would tend to blame the other party would they not?

This is why I feel that not only a committment by the individual to get away from the substance abuse is needed, but also it should go the extra step and seek personal renewal.

I realize that people might find such renewal in many places, including (though I hate to say it) Scientology or Islam, or some thing of that nature. My views on those 'solutions' are rather well known, so I won't comment further on that. The problem comes when the individual has placed his faith in a refuge such as that, but is later confronted with some information which shows that his choice was ill-considered or that there are serious concerns about such refuges.

It could be like the carpet is swept from under his newfound feet?

We could expand substance abuse to include other addictions such as alcohol (could be considered substance), gambling and pornography.
Addiction to these things is not so much the problem but a result of another problem. In order to help a person with addictions we need to treat the problem, not the cause of the problem. If we sucessfully break a persons addiction to any of the above but don't deal with the problem they will just return to their former addiction.

Well said Steel... absolutely agree.

I also definitely include Alchohol and nicotine and gambling and porn..

yes.. in all cases there is a deeper underlying issue.. identifying that and providing the solution..the deeper one is the way to fix the addiction.

Steel Mann and Polycarp

You are right Substance abuse includes alcohol, drugs, glue and petrol sniffing, nicotine etc.
Gambling addiction is also related to endorphin releases similar to adrenaline junkies.

However I'm not sure of the status of porn I suspect that has more of psychological/emotional basis although there could be a physical addictive pay off. From memory all the “porn” addicts I came across were individuals with the afore mentioned P&E issues.
Caveat: this isn’t scientific though just experiential.

It is often difficult to determine the importance of the initial trigger to an addiction. Most addictions become a physical dependence exist after the trigger has gone.
i.e. I smoked a pipe for years because I thought it made me cool. Eventually I realized that it was self destructive action BUT by then my body was conditioned to the hits of nicotine, the addiction was physical and in this case THE problem. While I don't have a strong will power I DO have a strong WON'T power. Hence I haven't smoked in 20 years.

Conversely, as a young man I drank alcohol to excess as a means of numbing an extreme negative event in my life. My body habituated alcohol and it became a physical need BUT when I stopped got past the withdrawal symptoms the psychological pain returned and I started drinking again. In this case the Trigger WAS an important issue which needed attention as well.
The interesting point was that I was that while I was undeniably physically addicted to alcohol I was never an alcoholic! Eventually I did come to grips with the issue (except the odd nightmare) and‘dried’ out.
The important bit. Today I drink socially and can stop at any point. However to an alcoholic, 1 drink is too many and 100 not enough. They can't stop. They MUST totally abstain for the rest of their lives.
The only addictions I still maintain is the desire to help others, jigsaws, crosswords and debating on sites like OLO…:-)