RE: How do you guys feel about the drug crisis + my experience
I have a unique perspective on this as it has affected my life in a few different ways.
I grew up in the suburbs, a bunch of different races but most of my friends were white. By income it was probably middle class but had a pretty working class feel. Most kids did not finish college and ended up in the cycle of drugs. I've been to a lot of funerals over the years, lost some of my best friends and even family fell victim.
Here's how it went: we're in high school, young, we're all getting laid (even the betas), partying, drinking, smoking, putting some pills and coke up our nose every now and then. We're working a minimum wage job for some extra cash but not much disposable income. We're just trying to graduate and get to the next stage of our lives. Life is pretty carefree and good.
Once high school ends, most kids go to college as it is the "thing to do." A lot of guys didn't have the intelligence or money to get accepted to a better school, so they stay local and live at home, attending class with not much direction. None of us really knew high powered corporate parents giving us direction, so everyone kind of went to school for a general degree without really knowing what to do with it.
Then it starts. Guys start dropping out of school, getting lazy in classes, spending too much time in the neighborhood, not much job prospects or a vision for the future. The structure of high school isn't there, most of the girlfriends dumped us, now everyone is just bored, working a dead end job, no school, no guidance, nothing going for them. The realities of post-high school dead end life starts to hit a few years after graduation and guys keep hanging out with their high school buddies, doing more and more pills to kill the time. We started off with Vicodin and Valium, eventually guys went to Percs and Oxies.
Once it's a few years from high school graduation most of the guys have full blown drug habits. Everyone is robbing and stealing from each other to get their fix. Most of the crew moves to heroin to save money and some guys start dealing to make some extra cash and get that quick fix. A few guys get busted and go to jail, a few guys die, and a ton of guys go in and out of the rehab/halfway house system.
In my mind the biggest cause is never leaving the neighborhood, holing up in their parents basement, with no future, no direction, no hope for a better life. These guys just orbit around their high school friends and eventually take drugs to ease the boredom and pain.
I was lucky enough to go away to school, which gave me purpose and kept me away from some of the bad distractions at home. Still, I understand what it's like to not have any sort of leadership at home, and clear picture for what my future is going to hold.
I never really fucked with the heroin and painkillers but I had my own struggles with drug dependency. When I was about 22 I had a nasty breakup that caused me to have panic attacks. I was a very anxious kid growing up and had bad insomnia. I was prescribed some benzos and they were amazing. My panic attacks stopped, I started sleeping at normal hours, my life was fixed. I went to the doctor, he prescribed them, it was perfect.
I continued these pills for about 5-6 more years, on and off, and developed a dependency towards them. The only problem was, the law started cracking down on them and doctors weren't willing to prescribe. I spent the last two to three years getting them off the darkweb, doctor shopping, and getting them off the street. I had some nasty withdrawals when I couldn't get them. I never had a full blown addiction, as I always took a set amount every night, but I definitely had a dependency. Looking back, this breakup that happened at a young age could have ruined my life as I developed a pretty nasty, but controlled, drug habit.
It was only about six months ago when I completely cut the cord on them. I still take a lot of natural herbs for my insomnia (Kava Kava, Gaba, Valerian Root, otc sleeping pills, melatonin) every night, but I finally kicked the habit.
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