Methadone Rehabilitation

Question by BJ: How screwed up can you get by using drugs?
After the first time one of my closest friends used drugs it seems like he immidiately got addicted cause now almost everyday he trys to buy some and got all A’s. I mean im not ever going to use or even try drugs because they way i see it when i become a parent i dont want to be a hypocrite by telling my kids to use it when i did plus i dont want to screw up my life

-Future Surgical Oncologist right here

Best answer:

Answer by For your Health
Hitler did speed and look at him.

Answer by ?•?•?
“Drugs” covers everything from Huffing Paint Thinner to Smoking Crack and everything in between.

Each individual drug has different side effects and damage to different areas of the body. What drugs is he doing, specifically?

Also, how old are you and how old is he?

I’ll go over the basics…

1. Alcohol: Alcohol is the only drug humans use regularly whose detox can kill you. “The DT’s”, Delirium Tremens, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens is usually joked about and even moderate alcohol withdrawal can cause a tremor in the body but the REAL DT’s sends you to the hospital and you can go into shock and die. My last landlord is an alcoholic and he and his common law wife had to consume alcohol before 2:00pm or else their shaking would get so bad that they couldn’t even hold a glass. They were SEVERE alcoholics. Alcohol can disrupt the development of the adolescent brain and it’s not uncommon for young drinkers to grossly overestimate the amount to drink and end up passing out or even having alcohol overdose.

2. Marijuana: Marijuana is a complicated subject full of a TON of misconceptions and propaganda. Marijuana is a drug, it is addictive to a VERY small portion of humanity that have a specific brain chemistry and genetic makeup to allow for addiction to weed. Additionally, it’s been shown that more than periodic use of marijuana by adolescents prevents the ability to reach emotional milestones and hinders the development of emotional coping mechanisms and physically alters the development of the frontal lobes and can lead to long-term memory/cognitive problems. After your brain finishes developing, at about 18 or 19 years of age, smoking weed periodically is as harmful as having a few beers at the end of the week. It isn’t really “Good” but it isn’t “Bad” either. FOR THOSE WHOSE BRAINS HAVE FINISHED DEVELOPING.

Google and Watch “BBC Horizon Cannabis: The Evil Weed?” for more info on the research being done on the origins of Canabonoid receptors in the human brain and the effect of marijuana on the developing mind.

3. Ecstasy/MDMA: BAD SH*T. Use it a handful of times in your life and there’s no problem but if you use it more than just a few times, the damage to the brain is predictable and, more importantly, cumulative. Meaning, even if you go without for a while, the damage done is done for good so the next time you use it, it just does more harm that can’t be undone. Ecstasy does similar brain damage as LSD/Acid. Both result in causing the brain to send out tons of hormones in the brain which then turn into free radicals and destroy brain tissue. This leads to short term bouts of depression as your brain produces more Dopamine and Serotonin but if you do too much, those cells that make the Dopamine and Serotonin DIE and you’ll have mood disturbances PERMANENTLY. Meaning, you’ll have to be on antidepressant/psychiatric medication for the long term depression in your late 20’s after you destroy those portions of your brain. (You can’t get addicted to MDMA or LSD)

4. Meth/Speed/Amphetamines: WORST THING YOU CAN DO. Causes the worst brain damage of the lot on top of SEVERE Addiction. Watch the movie “Spun” and you’ll see the joys of using a lot of meth. Hallucinations, pika/pickers syndrome, tooth loss, etc. BAD TIMES. Oh, and there’s very little difference between Meth and Aderall/Prescription Stimulants to those with the genetics for addiction.

5. Opiates: This class includes Opium, Heroin, Morphine, Methadone, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Vicodone… Almost all types of prescription pain killers contain opiates. These do the least harm to you PHYSICALLY but are the most profoundly addictive substance on earth. There is no difference between shooting heroin and taking prescription opiate drugs. EVERYONE starts out saying “I’m just taking a few pills” and if they have a family history of addiction (and/or a trauma history) they’ll spin out and end up sucking some guy’s crank in an alley for heroin EVENTUALLY… Combine Opiates with Alcohol and you have a combo that is nearly impossible to get sober from. On top of that, if you take prescription medication as-is, they almost all contain large quantities of Tylenol, (Acetaminophen or Paracetamol) which is a drug that accidently kills and sends people to the hospital just for taking the RECOMMENDED DOSAGES of it… But if you take 5 hydrocodone, 5mg Codeine (Synthetic Opiate) and 500mg Acetaminophen, that’s an almost lethal dose of Tylenol! Also, look into Rush Limbaugh going deaf. People that take prescription opiates have a tendency to go deaf and require cochlear implants to restore their hearing. Also, people that inject the drugs tend to die of infections introduced into the body by the needle or blood clots/aneurisms due to particulate matter in the injected fluids.