I had a long talk with someone who was a heavy drug user. I think he used a lot of cocaine because of a lot of stress in his life. Cocaine helped him to ease the pain just for a short amount of time. He went to various drug treatment centers, been in therapy and did all the things required to stop doing drugs for good. While drug programs and therapy may work for some, for him, after a couple of months of being off the drugs, he relapsed again and again. It would be a couple of months of doing very well, no drugs and then just like that he fell back to the darkside.

Well, he finally woke up. He hit rock bottom, he decided to deal with the root cause of his drug problem and tackle it head on. He ignored drug treatment centers and therapy, deciding that he’ll have to stop using drugs on his own will power. Did it work? Yep. He took on the stress in his life, which were family issues and removed himself from that negative environment. Decided to stay in a shelter for a while, then moved into is own apartment and eventually got a decent job. There’s more to the story, but he told me “if you want to get off of drugs for good, stop running from your problems and deal with it in an appropriate manner. After you hit rock bottom a couple of times, you’ll say ‘enough is enough’ and this will be my last rock bottom and the very last time I use any type of drug as an escape.”

Look, drug addiction is a very complex issue and is tough on any family or close friends. However, I think if you can get at the root cause of your drug addiction, you’ll be a step closer to freedom.

Places To Visit If You Have A Drug Or Drinking Problem:

1. National Institute on Drug Abuse

2. Recovery First

3. Drug Addiction Treatment Centers

4. Addiction Treatment Search - 1-800-559-9503

5. Alcoholics Anonymous

6. National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information

7. Al-Anon/Alateen