Caught red handed

Good stuff man. Thanks. And believe me when I tell you. I am no saint. I probably still drink more often than I should, and for a large chunk of years, I probably consumbed more pot than Jimi Hendrix.... But luckily, the hard stuff has never tickled my fancy. Never really felt like even giving it a try. I think my friend's mom growing up really changed my views. Once I was old enough to know WHAT she was doing, it kind of made the dangers of that stuff a reality....

I always though Methadone was meant to "ween" off of. This person tells me otherwise, and claims that her doctor supports this... Even for travelling, she is always afraid that she won't have a methadone pill if she leaves the state. It was a big deal when we were in CA. I actually had to drive around looking for a place to get her one.... I told her, why don't you just take 3/4 of a pill every day for a few weeks before you travel. Maybe you can save up enough to get you through... Or with that rationale, I have also said, start small... Start taking 3/4 of a pill each day for a month. Then the next month, take half, and so on and so on....

I think more than anything, she really isn't willing to put up that fight yet and get through it. It gives her a lot of power in a lot of situations. I.E. She never has to come down and see us. She never has to go do family stuff. She always has that trump card. That out. So in a lot of ways, I don't really buy it, and because of her friends and the area she lives in, I know she has access to the bad pills all day every day. And I know that supposedly Methadone counteracts oxy, so I guess it doesn't really work when you take them, but I have always wondered, maybe she uses sometimes, and when she can't find it, or can't afford it, that Methadone gets her through. Only she knows this. I just know a lot of people very close to her still use. And she has to see them on a somewhat regular basis. She doesn't look like a Zombie like she did at one point...

But like you said. I guess the day will come when she will want to fight it harder. I guess today is not the day. In her mind, she still "kinda" gets high every day of the methadone, and the doctor tells her its okay, so who knows. I know that people say Methadone is no big deal, but it has to alter your mind and body in some way to control the fiending. Again, I am in the dark about it. In a nutshell, if she wants to kick it once and for all, I am sure there is a way. Her family members and my wife are all convinced that nothing can be done, and this is simply how she is going to have to live her life. Sounds fishy to me.

 

Sounds like me how I rationed my scripts each time lol. I wouldn't travel either unless I had enough junk to last me through the whole trip, and even then I'd go through it much quicker than I planned. And you just further proved my point about doctors. There are some out there who truly do care about their patients well being, and others not so much... Whom are really just concerned with how many patients they can get in and out and what they'll get paid from the insurance companies. Believe it or not, not many doctors really even know how 12 step programs work even though a lot of them may recommend them. Instead of going to see the same doctor she should seek out an addiction counselor or an IOP program (intensive outpatient). They'll say hit up 12 step meetings as well. I'll pray for her though man, cus the only way it's going to happen is if she wants it do. I have the utmost faith she can change into a completely different person. I mean just look at Steve-O and how he turned his sh!t around, if he can do it anyone can lol.

A big misconception too when it comes to most addicts, people always say they have a drug problem. I never had a drug problem, I had a ME problem and my solution to that problem was to use drugs. My solution to the problem now is not to use chemicals, but to stay plugged in and connect with other people who are staying clean as well and work on myself and defects, all one day at a time. Oh and surfing as much as fcking possible too haha

 

One guy in my fam od from that **** left behind a wife and 2 kids. Sad. on the other hand - one of my friends went down the rabbit hole with all that **** we let him drown in it and quit talking to him for years. He used to surf, snowboard, camp, fish very talented board rider too. We stayed away for ten yrs and let him waste away. So about a yr ago he calls me and my friend and is like I miss the old days and I gotta kick the dope I need your help. We took turns not letting him leave when he was going through withdraw, we had to physically kick his ass a few times in the beginning and not let him go find the ****. Hes clean a yr and 2 months and never happier. We are all closer now than ever too. Dont totally write anyone off you never know.

 

That's beyond awesome to hear man, like you said never write anyone off. The future is unwritten. Glad you get to share the stoke with your buddy again

 

Sometimes people just wake up and realize wtf am i doing?

 

I hope you get that call. If you do a word from experience dont let the withdraw part those unfortunate peeps go through scare you. Its like going through the movie the exorcist, not even joking...

 

I always felt like some others have stated here. No sympathy for addicts. Well that changed recently. Have a good friend who got into pills. Really was the type of person every one wanted to be around. Liked by everyone. We would do some "fun" drugs together. Drop acid every now and then, a little coke here. But it was always about moderation. Somewhere along the line moderation slowly went out the window one he started with the pills. I never liked them or that feeling so it's not something I fully understand. At first I was in denial myself. Couldn't believe he was going down that road and turned a blind eye out made excuses for him. If I could go back I would of tried to be a better frien. Anyway, to make a long story short by the time stuff started going missing and his debt started adding up and the lies got more and more ridiculous and I finally accepted what was going on I tried to help along with everyone else who's close to him, he was already to deep into it. Believes his own lies sort of stuff.

When I tried to talk some sense into him I was confident things would change. I was still thinking of him as the person he was. I was heart broken when I realized he's not that person. Denies his problem even when hard evidence is put in front of him. Refuses help. Refuses to admit his problem or his wrong doings. I now realize there's not a thing I can do for him. I WONT be an enabler. And I'm there for him when wants to fix this but until he makes that decision on his own all I can do is cut off ties. It hurts but it's for his own good.

I always thought only bad people turned into addicts. After seeing first hand what it does to a good person....I'm speechless. It's a very sad, useless feeling. I'm not saying addicts are innocent, I'm just saying it goes allot deeper then people who haven't seen it first hand would think.

 

This is the story I've heard so many times. A lot of non-addicted folk, or "normies" or don't understand the disease write off addicts and wastes of life, junkies, bums, etc. But the thing about addiction, the disease don't care who you are, what color your skin, how much or how little you have, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc. It doesn't discriminate. You could be the stereotypical addict who's homeless begging for change to buy that next bag, to the little old lady who gets scripts from her doctor, to millionare ceo's, to touring rockstars. Lest we forget Andy Iron's was an addict too.

You mentioned enabling too which I have first hand experience on from both sides of the coin. When I was using my family helping me with buying things for me since I was constantly broke and couldn't afford anything since my money always went towards my bad habits. Same rings true with my dad now, my mom pays for everything for him and he has a nice place to stay right now because she allows it. They think they're helping but they're really not. Love with detachment, sometimes the only way to be there for someone is to not be there for them.

Also, this is why I dig the song "Otherside" by Macklemore a lot, it paints the picture very well. Here's a quote from that song:

Friendship cease, no peace in the mind
Stealin' and takin' anything to fix the pieces inside
Broken, hopeless, headed nowhere
Only motivation for what the dealer's supplying
That rush, that drug, that dope
Those pills, that crumb, that roach
Thinkin' I would never do that, not that drug
And growing up nobody ever does
Until you're stuck, lookin' in the mirror like I can't believe what I've become
Swore I was gonna be someone
And growing up everyone always does
We sell our dreams and our potential
To escape through that buzz
Just keep me up, keep me up
Hollywood here we come

 

I've watched people I cared for die or become completely lost to the sh**. I also have seen other folks I care for kick it, and God bless them for doing so. I still have no sympathy for addicts though. I am not going to try and save someone from their own demise. Will I take a phone call from a friend in-need going through some sh**? Yes, but they have their own demons to face and are going to continue doing what they do until they WANT to change. Grow-up and face the sobriety...LOL. It ain't easy, right?

 

Yeah, some day I will talk to the guy, if he is still alive. I spent the better part of two years trying to help him. In kind of a strange "bro deal", instead of me terminating my lease when I left CA, he convinced me that he was clean and all this. He was living with his mom. So I let him stay in my apartment for the duration of my lease. At any time, I could have cancelled it at any time, but he kept convincing me. Man, I just started working, I will pay the rent and all that. I helped him with the rent the first two months... Never should have. Long story short, I shelled out over $4,000 for this bastard, all so he could squat in my place and do drugs. It was a terrible call on my part, I just still had faith in him, you know? For the final month, the rental agency would call me, saying that they just let themselves in, to make sure he was alive. Because they would see him stumbling around the neighborhood. They reported back to me that he was living in Squalor, empty bottles everywhere. Med bottles everywhere. They stepped over him on the floor, he never even woke up... At any rate, I told them to call the cops and remove him. They gave him a 24 hour notice and finally kicked him out....

So, for the past year or so, he reaches out to my friends, asking for my number, saying how he misses me and my wife and our daughter. They ask if they can give him my number. I say, does he sound sober? They say, no, not really. So I say no. Don't give it to him.....

I am over the money. I paid it all already anyway, it was just the principle of it all. Even if the guy did contact me, got my address and mailed me $10, it would be the step in the right direction, cause a Junkie isn't going to put $10 in the mail for sh** much less 4K.....

I just finally took the advice from a close friend, much older than me. She said Zach, we all know and love this guy, but you aren't helping him. You are enabling him. Every time you try and help him, he just gets further behind. You need to tell him you are done with him until he is sober, and really be done. So I told him. And I meant it. From the garbage my boys tell me he posts up on facebook, he sounds like a Junkie. He posted a couple weeks ago that he got robbed at Gun point at a gas station in Orange County.... I am like, sure buddy. You were just minding your business and two thugs rob you in the middle of Laguna Beach. Real story. White boy drives to bad part of town to buy drugs, instead of getting drugs, white boy gets jacked....

Anyway, enough about him. Just another story of a guy getting burned by a Junkie friend.

 

theres a name for those types of people.

"LOSERS"

seriously,I guess were talking opiates now,yes people who go to rehad or simply don't want to get clean are losers.not trying to hurt anyones feelings but yes,they are losers.my brother in law,a loser,shoots dope everyday.started with the pills like 7 yrs ago.got clean multiple times,still on the junk,again loser...

people who say they don't have it in them,or its too hard,suck it up u fkin loser.i was on pills for 5 yrs,not as a feind,but as a patient,getting them for my back.i kicked cold turkey because I didn't want to feel like a zombie and a loser anymore.i was debating getting subs the 1st day I was running low.after calling a bunch of places and having dr.s talking to me like im a junkie,i said fuk it.and I kicked last summer during that heatwave in july.

my back is still In aganozing pain everyday and I could get another script anytime but I choose not to.i know 7 people who I was really close to that od'd and died.again they were losers.some people don't have that mentality to go through with something.its like going to war,are u going to stand tall and shoot little arabs in flip flops or u going to freeze up?i didn't even visit my 1st boy that od'd,he turned into a vedgetable so I figured no use,and everyone was trying to talk shyt to me like ur not even going to see him.i remember the good times,not the times when my boy steals my shyt to go get high.fukd up part was,my other boy,who was best friends with my boy that died since they were children,basically left him to die.the dude started oding and my other boy jumped out the window,and when his sister came in to call him for dinner,hed been brain dead for a half hour.so they put him on life support and eventually pulled the plug.he was a good man,but he was a loser.

and the whole religion thing,a load of bullshyt.u basically turn ur addiction from drugs to god.if I walked around with a teddy bear,saying this teddy bear saved my life,i am drug free because of my teddy bear,all praise to my teddy bear I would look like a nutjob.my 1 buddy was a stonecold alcoholic,drank from sun up to midnight.he eventually got bagged did some time,and when he came out he was preaching the whole religious thing.and what I noticed was how he used to drink a gallon of vodka a day,now he would drink a gallon of coffee,again substituting one addiction for another.last time I seen him was a week after sandy,fresh off parole with a Gatorade filled with vodka,drinking and driving.lesson learned right???loser...

the only way a person will ever get clean is if they want to get clean themselves.i have far too much experience with feinds,real fiends,not the little steal a few dollars from dad to buy some pills,im talking rob ur mother at gunpoint and shoot her for 8 dollars kinda fein.its a fukd up thing,best thing is to not try it in the first place.it isn't addicting for no reason,its addicting because its great.but that greatness turns to misery very quick

 

one more thing I would like to add about junkies.it is hard living with a junkie in the family,my father was a junkie and my brother was a junkie.my brother did 8yrs in prison and he is home and doing great.prison was the best thing for him.

heres a little story id like to share.i hung out with a lot of dealers when I was young,i grew up in a bad place.anyway this 1 kid I knew,would rob every conveinance store every night,not rob them at gunpoint or strongarm,but go in through the backdoor after they closed.well one day kid didn't have any lotto tickets or cartons of smokes to trade,so he gave up his sisters camera.now on this camera was priceless shyt they will never get back because their brother was a junkie.new born baby pictures.this was like 12 years ago so the internet uploading thing wasn't that great yet so u basically had all ur valuable pics on ur cam.so the kid traded the camera,few weeks go by dude is asking for it but doesn't have any money.well my friend the dealer said fuk it and deleted all the pics and kept the camera.then a few months later that little baby died for some reason,don't know why,but I remember the kid was going so hard to get that camera back,and the dealers didn't give 2 shyts about it.so the only memories they had of their kid,the only pics,were stolen and sold by their drug addict brother.and this isn't the first camera with irriplacable photos,just the only one whos kid that died.fukd up shyt,couldn't tell u where that dude is now,either dead or in prison.dont do drugs

 

I can get on board with that. True sh**. Now that you mention it, all these people I am talking about, I technically do consider losers. I don't think people are really capable of being anything but a loser when life gets like that.

Oh how times dun changed. All these suburban towns are wondering why there is this huge influx of Heroin... Why? Because the sh** is WAY cheaper than pills. And kids feel better about the fact that they are taking "oxy", which is Heroin anyway, so once they get over the pride thing and know they are dope fiends, the move right to the real deal. And thats when bodies start dropping.

 

Harsh but true. Solid post Cep, every now and again you post a doozy. As much as it hurts to say, my nephews are losers now. It sucks but nothing I can do for them. I try to talk to them, but it's like talking to a wall. I give up, they have to find their own way. I still love em and want the best for them, but I won't enable them or waste anymore time trying to convince them to get help. It's a waste of time and just infuriates me. Life means nothing to them, maybe one day that will change, but at this rate it doesn't look like it.

 

All good points fellas. I used to be that loser. I was the douche that didn't know when to stop and there was no such thing as having too much in my book. Like I mentioned earlier it got to the point where I was locking myself away in my room just popping pills or whatever else. I lost around 30 somthin pounds and looked like a straight up loser bum. Might not have been one of those gun toting addicts, I was a little smarter than that but I would befriend guys like that and do business with them. But it all started on the pain pills for me too, two leg injuries and a back injury and I can still get a script whenever I want. I choose to deal with the physical pain instead of the mental and spiritual pain of having that garbage in my system. I somehow still managed to hold a job down in the process so support my habit was possible. Never took handouts from the government though and worked my way through everything. Did a lot of things I wasn't proud of and forged a lot of checks. But that's one of the steps in recovery is making amends for all the wreckage I've caused in the past. All the tools are out there, the help is out there, but the kicker is you can't force help onto someone who doesn't want it. When you're using and putting that junk in your body you lose your basic sense of right and wrong. It's horrible seeing someone go down that road especially if it's someone you care about. My opinions on it have changed so much, I used to think I was a normal dude to liked to party and took it too far sometimes and wrote it off as that. I know the only thing I have control over are my own actions and attitude and beyond that I've got no control. I try and help others that are in the same boat I was in, but I know I can force them to get clean, only try and share what I went through and hopefully a light bulb will go on for them.

To the OP, again I'm sorry about you're stuff. It's a huge annoyance, especially if the gear you had was worth something and you worked hard for it. But at least you yourself are alright man, the dude didn't try and stick you up and you get hurt or anything. You still got to go home to your kids and family. The stuff is replaceable, you and the fam aren't. Justice will come to that guy and anyone else who breaks the law. Addiction isn't an excuse for the effed up stuff we do or did, but it will cause you to do some pretty messed up stuff to get the next one. Which I still firmly believe everyone should be held accountable for their actions. I just wish our legal system did a little more. Someone gets busted with whatever drug and they just get thrown in the slammer then release and it happens again and again. Instead of wasting our tax money on that revolving door put more of it towards detox and education programs instead of just putting them in a cage. Couple buddies of mine are doing the drug court thing and about to graduate. I'm just glad I never did anything to catch some serious charges. I guess I never lost total respect for my fellow man when I was using.

And Cep, about the whole god thing. That's one of the things a lot of people have trouble with in the meetings I go to. Majority of us are not religious nuts and have not part in any organized religion. If that teddy bear works for someone and if them believing in it keeps em clean, let em go for it haha. I can tell ya a teddy bear would not keep me clean though. It talks of a higher power but does NOT mention god, that's just how many interpret it. We rely on things that we don't fully understand how they work on a daily basis. We're all little ants scurrying around on a ball of dirt hurling around a burning ball of hydrogen. We are so minuscule it's not even funny. But we're on this rock for some reason even if I don't get what that reason is. I have faith in that and in some type of purpose. And to me right now that purpose is to just enjoy the time I've got, be grateful I didn't overdo it and kill myself with that garabage, spend time with my loved ones, and surf/have as much fun as possible. And I don't need chemicals to do it anymore.

Imma break it down with this and call it a wrap, for me it's all been about being as humble as I can. Life has been so good since I kicked that crap, but I can't forget who or what I was when I was on it. It puts things into perspective for me and allows me to have gratitude for the small things in life I would always take for granted.

"When I was practicing my addiction, I lost track of what was right or wrong; honest or dishonest. Pride was defended, anger was justified, and lust was accepted. Gluttony was encouraged and envy was normal. Greed was there to be satisfied and laziness was a way of life. Now I rediscover the integrity in myself by simply knowing; what is right is what I feel good about, what is wrong is what I feel bad about."

That about sums it up.

 

nobody starts out like that,but if u stay on the train,your bound to crash.i havnt spent any time with junkies lately,other than my brother in law,and that's the way it should be.hanging around addicts will either get u robbed or thrown in jail for some shyt they did.its a sad cycle,it is truly evil and im not religious.theres just certain people that live like that and seriously have no plans to quit.

people only stop when they hit their lowest point,but if friends or families keep giving them money for their stuff they are enabling them.i used to think "enabling" was bs,but its very true.people that have to go to rehab because of court or people only getting clean to please their loved ones they really have no hope.u cant really tell an addict anything,whether they are high or sick they wont get the message.

crazy thing is when I was growing up around the heron there wasn't pills around.im sure they existed at the time but its not like how it is today.alcohol was the real gateway drug.its crazy because I talk this shyt because I hung out with people like this my whole teen years,and I had just about every drug put in my face offered for free but I knew better than to do it.fastfoward 15 years and long lost buddies u run into,they mention blues and u think whats that?u know u think someone says pills its not that serious,but it really is.it can really mess u up.and when I was on them,i took them as scheduled ,never sniffed them or anything crazy like that,and when I kicked it was just as hard as if I was snorting them.thats the message ur body is giving u to tell u not to do this shyt.I looked up every home remedy to help with all the illnesses.a few days I went to the beach at 2 in the morning just to swim so my body wasn't so hot.never again would I touch those things.it doesn't matter how many people lose their lives,they are still making billions off it,big pharma that is.and the look the pharmacies would give me when I try to fill my script was redicolous.then u have to drive all over nj to fill ur script because every pharmacy is on "backorder".those were some shytty times,i stopped surfing for like 3 years,lost a decent job,and here I am lol,but I am clean so its all good

 

All of the cliche's are just BS.

'Rockbottom', 'they have to decide to change,' it's all bull****.

Some people are able to escape it more easily than others. This has to do with brain chemistry and help. People addicted to drugs will lie, even when faced with evidence, because their brain has been rewired to make them pursue that reward at all costs.

You guys look at them as rational people, but if you are someone who would never steal from your family, and one year later you are selling electronics from the living room, are you really thinking rationally? No. So stop looking at them like rational actors.

These people need help, and that doesn't excuse their thefts or the emotional damage they cause. They will pay for those things in time, even if they make it to the other side, they will always have to live their life differently in order to avoid relapsing, and their foundational relationships are forever damaged. That's if they make it out.

Which requires help. Can't say how much it disgusts me to see people look down on the drug addicts using coke and heroin in the projects, but not the New England trust fund kid whose Mommy pays his bills while he is in and out of rehab for pills. All of these people deserve help, not just for them, but for their families, many of whom spend their life savings trying to help, often in futility. We live in a nation where this problem is disproportionally costly to the non-wealthy, and that is a shame.

It's easy to talk sh*t about being 'responsible' and 'straight headed' when you haven't been there. But instead you should be doing the right thing, which is always more difficult. Be empathetic. These are human beings with families that go through immense pain. Imagine your daughter grows up to be a legal prostitute in Nevada. That would hurt, right? Now imagine that pain x 1000. Emotionally devastating.

Stop talking so much sh*t, these are human beings here. This is a huge problem in our society right now and you need to take it seriously; talk to your representatives, police officials, and ask why there aren't more resources being put into this. Before you know it, some kid close to you, or your own kid, will be dead or just gone, and you'll realize you were just some sh*t talker lookin from the outside in, spending time talking sh*t on the internet, when you could have stopped the American suburbs from turning into 1970's New York City.

 

Nice post. I hear you on a lot of levels there. The inner city drug problems etc. are really a different animal. Equally as devastating, but the urban cycles are at much more alarming rates, for different reasons. Druf problems in the inner city aren't about money, they are about education in my opinion. I only use this particular town, because I have lived there and can give an honest take on it.

The inner city drug trade is one of the last "honest" (poor choice of words, I know) capitalist markets that a LOT of individuals have the opportunity to become a part of. I know I sound crazy, but in Baltimore city, the drop out rate is astronomical. Most kids don't make it out of middle school, much less high school. Once a quarter, the truancy officers will make their rounds, get their numbers so the funding doesn't go away.... But these kids are often times under ZERO supervision by age 10. By age 12, they are out on the corners. With no education, no transportation, no food, there is only one thing to do. Get into the drug game. 12 year old don't start out by sniffing coke, they start as runners, helping out on the corners, spotting, whatever. Making $50 a day in cash. Then they move up to actually handling a corner by age 14, then they have to be "strapped", then one day, they get high off their own supply, which MOST of these guys end up doing at one point or another...

That is how the cycle starts. So many kids in the inner city never even get a chance to make it out. They don't even have the resources to get to McDonalds and work an honest shift. And most of these kids come from parents with drug problems, so they were screwed before they even had a chance... And the government wants to lock these kids up, when in reality, they are 12 years old, unable to even LEGALLY work in this country, out on the streets fending for themselves.....

So by 18, they are either Dead, in Jail or a Junkie. And they never had a shot. I do NOT have a solution for this BTW, I am just saying. It's hard to tell kids from the projects to do the right thing, when they can't go to school, they can't even afford to eat and the only way they can get proper clothes on their back and hot food on the table for their brothers and sisters is to hustle....

So, back to suburban america.... It is the same PROBLEM, but a completely different scenario. Equally as bad, but I am far less sympathetic these days to a lot of the people that are close to me that have encountered these issues. I just look at the as so much more selfish and out of control. Most of these people are from good families, that had money. Most of them either graduated college or at least spent a couple years in high education.... It's like they went out LOOKING for it. I mean, we have all been educated on this stuff, they KNOW better. They have had nice vehicles since they turned 16, had spending money in college from Mommy and daddy. I understand if someone has back problems and the MEDICAL community gets them hooked on it. That sucks. But these kids that just wake up one day and say, man pounding beers and smoking joints on a friday night just WONT cut it anymore. I mean, we need to be fall down, sh** our pants blitzed.....

I don't know what to say. I just think that once anyone gets too deep on the stuff, they are all equally fu**ed at that point, but some people have ZERO excuse to be getting involved in that....

I mean, in most out there suburban towns, its hard enough to get a sack of weed, much less always know a guy that is going to have a steady supply of Oxy's and stuff... Next thing you know, these kids are driving into their nearest inner city, combing the streets for drugs....

This suburban drug revolution just blows my mind. It's not surprising that people like to get high. That is human nature, but the manor in which these kids are doing it, blows me away......

They know what they are getting into from JUMP STREET in the burbs. They have been warned about it. Educated about it. They have seen junkie friends... So, WHY WHY WHY??????

You know? I just don't know. I don't get it.

I mean, didn't pretty much everyone in the late 70s do coke on a regular basis? Well, they all held jobs down and when 1981 hit, people stopped blowing coke and got on with life... Maybe I am wrong there, but we as a society are just weakening by the minute.

I mean, back in the day people at least could recover from a coke bing... These kids and their drugs these days. They can just never get enough....

Maybe I am wrong about it all though. Here I am blaming education for inner city drug problems, when the kids going to the "New England Prep Schools" are making the same poor decisions....

Not to bring up this debate, we don't need more "drug education and rehab programs" for these people coming in and out of jail.

We need to SHUT DOWN the illegal drug trade. Legalize it. Legalize it all. Tax it all. Regulate it all. And make sure that every one of these people that walks in and buys pills, or heroin or what have you is taxed and leaves INFORMED....

Spend every penny that we currently spend on prison/court/police enforcement. I mean, don't we spend 10s of billions of dollars on the war on drugs? Spend it all on MONITORING, TAXING and EDUCATING people...

Hell yeah, use 50% of the money for treament programs, for job placement and education....

But I don't want ANY more money spent on treatment and everything until the government stops wasting its time and money, destroying these people lives by getting them caught up in the system....

If there is NO MARKET for illicit drug, then the backlash of crime reduction would be mind blowing... Sure, you would have addicts trying to break into cars still, but there would be no thugs on the corner. No shootouts....

Let people do as they please, which they will do anyway, but we just throw money down the drain and wasting treatment money and spending on people that are just setup to walk back to the projects and relapse 2 weeks later is just a waste....

The whole system is broken. From the ground up.