Top 10 Reasons People Use Drugs

This may seem like a no-brainer, but there are actually some surprising reasons why people may begin and continue to use drugs. It’s for the following reasons that anyone who is using or addicted to drugs not be judged, but helped. Here are some of the top ten reasons people use drugs.

1. They are legal: Yes, you read that right. Some of the drugs that have the most users are completely legal. Nicotine and alcohol are not illegal and yet they are highly addictive.

2. They are prescribed: There are many different medications, which are prescribed for a specific purpose, but because of the reaction of the brain to these medications, people easily become addicted. Some examples of these are pain medications, anti-anxiety meds, muscle relaxers and more.

3. Rebellion: Chances are many who are now adults did the same thing, but teenagers often begin using drugs as an act of rebellion or peer pressure. They experiment with drugs and alcohol. Some become addicted, some do not.

4. Self Medication: People live with varying degrees of stressors in their lives. There are times when instead of seeking the advice of a doctor, they begin to medicate themselves with marijuana, street drugs, or even perhaps alcohol.

5. Boredom: There are those that begin to experiment with drugs simply because they are bored or they feel emptiness in their lives. They are searching for something and mistakenly think that the answer is drugs or alcohol.

6. Peer Pressure: Not only teens, but many adults begin to experiment with drugs because their friends do. They begin casually at a gathering or a party, and continue on from there. Many times, this leads to addiction.

7. It Feels Good: If addictive drugs made people deathly ill every time they tried it, people probably would not become addicted. However, this is not what happens. Cocaine, Meth, Marijuana, and many other drugs make a person feel very, very good when they begin using them. This leads to drug addiction even though the good feelings get harder and harder to experience with time.

8. Curiosity: The power of curiosity should never be underestimated. Many people, young and old try drugs simply to see what will happen. They are curious as to the effects of the drug and start using for no other reason than to find out what it feels like.

9. Availability: Prescription drugs and street drugs are extremely accessible to anyone who wants to find them. They can be purchased on the street, through doctors, on-line pharmacies, and even through black market websites.

10. Enhancement: Drug use and abuse very often starts with people drinking alcohol. When the effects of the alcohol aren’t enough, they branch out into using other drugs as well to enhance the effects of the alcohol.

Of course, there are many other reasons why people may begin using drugs but the long and short of it is they like the way the drug makes them feel. The short-term effects for most drugs are extremely pleasant and that is what keeps the person going back for more.

Eminem's Story

The singer said he became so hooked on prescription medicines that he also overdosed on the heroin substitute methadone. He inadvertently took a massive dose after being given a handful of tablets by a pal. Eminem, 36, said: “My doctor told me those mysterious new pills were methadone. “Had I known it was methadone, I probably wouldn’t have taken it. But, as bad as I was back then, I can’t even say 100 per cent for sure. “My doctor told me the amount of methadone I’d taken was equivalent to shooting up four bags of heroin. “Even when they told me I had almost died, it didn’t click.” The American star, whose eagerly-awaited new album is called Relapse, was also addicted to the sedative Valium. In August 2005 he canceled a European tour, citing exhaustion. Two days later his record company revealed he was being treated for dependency on sleep medication. Although he soon weaned himself off he suffered a relapse. He told yesterday how he searched his home in desperation for drugs or medications containing powerful narcotics, such as cough syrup NyQuil.

Eminem — real name Marshall Mathers III — said: “I’m ransacking my house, finally find something in the basement, in a little napkin, 7½ Vicodin (pain killers) — the big, extra-strength ones — and a few Valium.” The star added: “Rap was my drug. “It used to get me high, then it stopped getting me high. “Then I had to resort to other things to make me feel that. Now rap’s getting me high again.”

Michael Jackson - The King of Pop

The Battle Begins

Over the past two years I have been dealing with my boyfriend's drug addiction to painkillers of all sorts. First it started out just getting a couple pills here and there to deal with his neck and back pain, and then he went to the doctor to be treated. The doctor just filled him prescriptions of Tramadol (240 pills) and he would take 10-20 a day without my knowing. I knew something was up when he would tell me he needed to call the doctor to get more because he "lost" some or they "fell in the toilet" when he went pee or he gave some to "friends" at work, which of none I believed.

Then he lost his insurance, and since he was addicted he started buying them off the street. He would buy any painkiller he could get his hands on. I would get so mad because he was paying huge amounts of money on these damn things and we would let bills slide just to treat his need. I didn't understand how someone couldn't take just one or two pills for the day. We would literally get into bad arguments because of the loss of money and bills being behind because of this. He would tell me over and over "I need them," "you don't understand" and "you can't feel my pain," which would then make me feel bad and I'd end up giving in and let him buy more. He is very good at twisting things and getting what he wants.

It got so bad one time that he actually thought we had money in our walls. He attempted to rip the walls open, until I talked him out of it. He has had seizures, fell through windows, overdrawn our bank account a million times (it's still in the negative) wrecked my car and started fights with me for no reason.

I love him with everything I got and I couldn't stand to watch him kill himself. It wasn't until last week that we got into a huge fight because his "dealer" called trying to get him to buy more pills. I blew up! We had our fight, I threatened to leave and he then told me that he had a problem and wants to quit.

We are now working on his addiction. The pills that he has left I am holding and I only give one or just a half of one a day. He is doing really well and I am very proud of him. We just take one day at a time and I hope he can finally be done with the addiction soon.

A&E Intervention - Andrea and Ricky Part 1

Ultrams and Vicodin

My husband is hooked on Ultrams (Generic Name: tramadol (TRAM a dol), and Vicodin. This is going on now for a few years and I've had enough. Whenever I confront him on this subject he'll just insist that he's taking them for his back pain. I know that there's got to be some other alternative then taking these meds for the rest of his life and being an addict. I'm scared for his life and our marriage. Anytime I try and talk to him about this, he raises his voice and threatens to leave. He says he knows he's got a problem and he's gonna try and quit on his own by weaning himself off. He says by doing it this way he should bypass the withdrawal part. I don't know how true that is. I suggested that I take him in to get detoxed, but he refuses to do that. he said either we'll do it his way or he's not gonna try and quit at all. He gave me all his pills. so now I have control over how many he gets to take per day. I just hope he really wants this. I don't want to have to leave him, but at the same time I don't want to have to watch him hurt himself anymore. I don't know what to do. I feel like a basket case!

I Don't Believe Him

I thought I'd throw this out there?? I've been involved with an addict/alcoholic for about 8 years...this time he says he's been clean for 2 months, but the problem is I have a hard time believing him. He has been a habitual relapse case. This January he lied to me about going to a rehab, and after a few weeks after finding out, he said he was clean and didn't need to go, but he'd would attend meetings regularly. Well, maybe some of the red flags are going up from time to time here lately, but I honestly don't trust my own judgment with him anyway. He has become irate with me because I don't trust him and he gets really angry when I question him about this stuff.However, this isn't the first time I've heard he's going to meetings. He's lied about picking up chips-(has picked them up when he was using),stolen money, meds, kids things to pawn,he's disappeared on us,the list goes on, but mainly he's lied about being clean when he wasn't. I've been very honest about how I feel with him and the addiction, but lately it justs seems to set off a fight. I don't know what to do anymore, because I feel it will take time to get that trust back and I feel very hurt since the kids and I have been there time and time again for him, but he has no patience for us??? (sorry, sarcasm)His main complaint is that there is no natural sex drive coming from me (I have the chronic back pain from an injury,which is a whole other list of problems between us) which I admit, it's hard to be sexually attracted and comfortable to someone that I have a hard time trusting. I complain we need to work on the relationship and get it stronger first, before worrying about sex and those problems. I have a hard time trusting him in the house because I'm afraid he'll steal my pills ( I take one if back pain flairs up-low dose Vicodin) and I don't want any money stolen either. He hasn't yet, but I need some time to see if he really is clean this time or if he's blowing smoke in my ear again. I told him this would be his last chance. I don't have the medical insurance for a counselor and my Al-anon group isn't the strongest in the world, but I still read the books. My oldest son goes to Ala-teen. Other than that I'm at a loss. I feel like we're on the losing end all over again. Does anyone have any ideas or opinions???