Death by
drugs is common. Those who died from drugs include Elvis Presley, Marilyn
Munroe, Michael Jackson, John Belushi, Chris Farley, River Phoenix, Janice
Joplin, Jimi Hendricks, Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger, Whitney Houston, Prince
and many others.
A common
pattern is taking sedatives to go to sleep and stimulants to wake up.
Drug-dependent people are taking a risk of early death. They underestimate the
damage drugs can do.
Homelessness
used to be a result of alcohol addiction and night shelters smelled like Gin
Stills. Now we have added drug addicts
to the homeless population and those who used to camp by railroad tracks as
Hobos and now crowded on downtown streets in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
When
addiction leads to violence and disruption on the part of the addict, families
need to banish the addict. Addict
behavior can pose dangers of theft and dangerous associates. Addict behavior
can include “Jekyll and Hyde” behaviors and families are forced to banish the
addict.
Treatment
is restricted by health insurers and relapses are common. Eventually, homelessness becomes part of the
“treatment”. Addicts must “hit bottom”
and decide to end their addiction and nobody else can do this for them. A big
part of the “cure” is work. If addicts
can find jobs, they have a chance to end their addictions. It can take years
and lots of AA meetings to do this.
I
volunteered to spend the night in a homeless shelter years ago. I met an
alcoholic who had been married, worked as a Dentist, lost his Practice and lost
his family. He had been trying to conquer his addiction for 3 years.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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