Drug Use...Violent Crimes...Addiction...Looking for the Answers

It has been a while since my last post.  Went on vacation and it has been a little crazy around here since we returned home.  In the past I have posted about how hard it is sometimes to get the help you need to enter into recovery.  Well, it can be just as hard to get or receive help after you enter into recovery.  Having posted some of my struggles before, I think it only fair that I state that most of the time, these days, I don't have to 'jump through as many hoops' as before.  But mind you, there are still hoops that I must jump through from time to time.

One of those hoops being how I receive the medications that I take for my fibromyalgia and other health issues.  Every three months the manufacturer of most of my medications sends my meds to my doctor's office and I go by to pick them up.  I normally let the office know that I am about out (still have about 2 weeks left at this time) and ask them to please order it for me.  Well, this is one of those times that things have not been what they should be.  It has been over a month now since I requested an order and I am still waiting.  Yes, I know I get most of my meds free, but that is no excuse for having to be out for over a month.  And no, I can't just go get a prescription and have it filled.  I have no income, so therefore I have no money.

Thank God for family and friends that are there to help me in my times of need.  Now, I mean no disrespect to my doctor but this is a little bit more than I want to handle at this time.  But you do what you have to in order to get by.  I am not sure if I will go back to this doctor in the future or not for the simple fact that when I asked him what seemed to be the problem and how can we work it out, he said I needed to talk to the person that was calling it in because he did not know what or when they were calling.  And that the office only called the drug manufacture as a courtesy to the patient.  Wow, now that is taking some kind of responsibility for your staff!!  Oh, and I am still waiting.  Due to this and other issues I have been dealing with, I just haven't been in the right frame of mind to write a 'good and informative' post until today.

Moving on, I want to address once again the power of addiction.  This disease is incurable and can be fatal, causing death.  It is no laughing matter and I wish the public would take it more serious than they do.  I have been doing a little research as to the percentage of violent crime and drug use.  My findings are according to some reports "Crime related to drug abuse is mostly non-violent and often petty."  This comes from  http://www.incb.org (please copy and paste into your web browser to view).   I encourage you to go to this site and read as it is filled with information that could help you or someone you know one day.  Also, you may want to check out some of the sites listed below on the same subject 'drug use and drug related violent crime'.  There are additional sites on my resource page about treatment centers and web sites where you can find help for yourself or a loved one.

Anyway, everyone is not the same when it come to addiction.  Some people can use drugs and never become addicted.  I have heard it said in the past several months, "I didn't think anyone could stop using 'crack cocaine"!  Well, I am here to tell you that you can stop the use of this substance and others.  Some people never become dependent on any drug.  They can use and walk away just as easily as they started.  Someone may have a harder time recovering from marijuana than say crack cocaine.  It all depends on that individual, not necessarily what drug they are using.  Most addicts will tell you that 'I used whatever I could to get me out of myself.'

There is help out there, but you have to ask to receive it.  You have to have willingness to stop using.  If, for some reason you feel you may use again, you can still seek help.  Most times the help you seek is just someone to understand where you are and where you are wanting to go.  Many have asked why every addict cannot grasp recovery.  They seem to let it slip through their fingers like water.  Everyone has their own point, their reason to stop using.  But we must allow them to reach that point.  We can not do the recovery for any addict.  They must 'want' to recover for themselves.

This post is about raising awareness of drug use, addiction and drug related crimes.  Mainly, because I have felt lately that drug users are being represented unfairly (to a point) about their use and violent crimes that are shown as drug user related.  I have seen a lot of this representation in several movies that I have watched.  Not naming these movies as that is not the point.  My point is that I feel, and this is just me, that the drug related violent crimes are happening during drug deals.  I feel that drug related violent crimes maybe more apparent in larger cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, and other cities of related size.  In the smaller, more rural, towns I feel that there may not be a very high drug related violent crimes taking place.

Yes, drug users steal, cheat, lie and many other things in order to get money to buy their drugs.  I do understand that the websites that I have listed may not prove my feelings, but I just felt the need to state how I feel about this subject and provide research to bring awareness to light about drug related violent crimes.  Drug use is running rampant throughout our world.  The war on drugs is still a strong part of our world today as it was when it started.  In the websites listed below, there's an abundance of information and reports and charts and graphs that show and tell the story of how drugs and their use is affecting our society.

Drug addiction is no laughing matter.  We need to take this subject very serious as we may one day find that this information is helpful because someone we love is using or has become an addict.  As I stated earlier, persons react differently to drugs.  They react differently to different drugs.  Yes, there are some that will die the first time they ever try drugs.  This is a fact that cannot and should not be over looked.  It just breaks my heart to see someone, whether I know them or not, using or high because I know what they are going through.  The struggles and temptations.  The battles they have to fight everyday in order to be able to use.  Again, addiction does not care who you are, what class of society you are from, where you live or what type of work you do.  There are people as varied as homeless to being a doctor or lawyer.  Addiction does not care!!

Please, if someone you love or know appears to have a problem with drugs or alcohol, try to understand that they may not be able to stop on their own.  Let them know you are there for them.  That you truly care about them.  Sometimes all someone needs is to know there is someone willing to help no matter what.  Addicts will try everything they possible can to get their next fix but I honestly do not feel like someone just trying to get one more fix  would do something extremely violent to get it. I may be wrong, but I hope I am not.  People need to wake up where drug and alcohol abuse is concerned.  We must continue to reach out and try to educate the non-using public about drugs and the addicts that abuse them.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but for some reason I can't get these websites to link to the web pages.  You will have to copy and paste each one into your web browser to view them.  Again I do apologize.



Additional sites on drug use and drug related crime statics:

http://recoveryfirst.org/substance-abuse-and-violent-crime.html/

http://recoveryfirst.org/substance-abuse-and-violent-crime.html/

https://www.ncjrs.gov/htm/chapter2.htm

http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08_01_REP_DrugTx_AC-PS.pdf

http://www.thirteen.org/closetohome/viewpoints/html/crime.html

http://courses.missouristate.edu/KarlKunkel/SOC540/harrison.pdf

http://www.csdp.org/edcs/page24.htm

http://www.drugscope.org.uk/resources/faqs/faqpages/how-much-crime-is-drug-related