Vaping, wow!

[Alan W.]

When I first started having nerve damage I was sent to a spine center. I had to piss in two cups one for the quickie check and one for the lab. I was given a 30 day Rx.

When I went back, did the drug test again and the Dr came in mad wanting to know what was going on. No drugs in my system.
I was suppose to be taking 3 a day but I only took one if it was unbearable. I had to bring the pills in to prove I wasnt selling them. After that all was ok with the Dr.


My brother was one of those that loved the weed and booze. Died right out of high school because of it.

 

[Dftodd]

When I first started having nerve damage I was sent to a spine center. I had to piss in two cups one for the quickie check and one for the lab. I was given a 30 day Rx.

When I went back, did the drug test again and the Dr came in mad wanting to know what was going on. No drugs in my system.
I was suppose to be taking 3 a day but I only took one if it was unbearable. I had to bring the pills in to prove I wasnt selling them. After that all was ok with the Dr.


My brother was one of those that loved the weed and booze. Died right out of high school because of it.

Wife and I both refuse prescriptions. We both have been shocked though by the amount of prescriptions we both have been offered for opioids this year alone. I've been offered them 3 times for what I considered minor irritations that advil, tylenol, or aleve handled fairly well. My pain was a symptom of something that could turn serious, so I figured I better get to the docs to get the underlying issue taken care of. Even with psoriatic arthritis in my shoulder. I managed with advil and tylenol for a few months, till the medication that treated the arthritis really kicked in. I just asked the doctor about dosages for them instead of an opioid.

My wife's been offered 5 seperate prescriptions plus a dose of morphine while she was in the ER for her issues.

Both of us considered our pain to be manageable and non debilitating. More irritating then anything else. Which we explained to the docs before the prescriptions were offered. Course we both have a very high pain tolerance.

 

[dragoneggs]

Lots of ways to take this conversation.

On the topic of vaping, my BIL 'quit' smoking after 50 years but only because he migrated to vaping. He was convinced that vaping wasn't bad and felt pretty good about himself as he was dialing down the nicotine dose over time. He still vapes at the same rate of smoking but in his mind he now doesn't smoke. A couple times I tried to reason with him (before this latest info on vaping came to light) that putting anything other than air/oxygen into your lungs is bad. It's all relative. Whether you are doing it intentionally or not. He was/is in denial. Have yet to approach him now that it is front page bad news.

On the topic of dealing with a child doing pot, quitting school, blaming others, anger, video games, etc. We lived it. There is hope. I suppose recovery is much dependent on the will/personality of the kid. In my case, my son 'grew' out of it and got motivated to make something of himself after wasting several years. Some tough love for sure. A girl friend that stabilized him, a younger sister who cruised though college and made something for herself (jealousy as he was the smarter one), and a change of scenery (friends). Very easy for parents to enable because they 'care'. In the end, the person has to want to 'succeed' themselves. Good luck... I feel fortunate I didn't ultimately lose my son. It was ultimately out of my control.

Recently we learned they were expecting this spring! Keep the faith and hope!

 

[two_bit_score]

Your analogy is a bit off. Smoking is a decision. ... ... ... ...

I agree on the unequal punishments. Explain how a government with full knowledge of the dangers of smoking while collecting huge sums in taxes is not as culpable as the manufacturer.

Look no further than prohibition. It doesn't work to totally prohibit things that the masses are already hooked on. That doesn't mean everything should be legal and that we should add any currently illegal substances to the legal list. Gov't can tax tobacco and alcohol to make it less desirable legally. But people are going to get what they want illegally if necessary. It what they want, and obtain illegally, kills them, then they made that choice too.

 

[drssg]

Addiction and depression go hand in hand. EVERY addict eventually wants to stop! But their mind is having a difficult time getting back to normal. They all need help. None of them need or deserve belittling from uncaring, opinionated people.

Giving them compassion and respect may be just what they need to see the light and break the addiction.

Narcotics Anonymous is everywhere. AFTER the addict is beaten down to the point that he is ready to ask for help and follow direction, he will find an abundance of compassion, respect, and empathy from people who have been down his road. Those same people will know to call him on all his BS, because they've probably tried the same thing. Well-meaning family and friends are often not in a position to help, and that compassion can be confused with enabling, which only prolongs the drug use by shielding the addict from the consequences of his actions.

Yes, addiction and depression go hand in hand. Anyone who's living the life of an addict is bound to be depressed. Depression can be addressed after detox, but an addict will never get clean by fixing their depression. The insanity of the disease is that many will go to their grave convinced that the drugs wouldn't be a problem if they could just get other people off their back.

 

[pwinters]

I see where some little snowflake (age 18) is suing Juul, the leading vaping company because he believes his lungs are destroyed. Wow. He claims, and actually admits he bought nicotine liquid when he was underage. Probably ought to prosecute him for that, since he admitted it and all. .. So he wants into the the pocket of "big vape". Yeah we will see how far that gets him. He said the problems began when he started filling his vape pen with THC (active ingredient in MJ) oils. Yeah that he got off of a drug dealer on the street. Good luck with that. In my opinion what a maroon (bugs bunny speak for moron). He related that "everyone else was doing it" as his reason for starting vaping.

Personally I think we need more hoopleheads like him in the world. The predators need prey after all.
If he wants to sue someone, how about suing his parents for not knocking some sense into his empty head. Or maybe since he is now an adult, (ain't that a laugh) he can sue himself. Yeah, 18 year olds are "adults". They can vote and everything. They just can't think. At least a lot of them. Color me among the unsympathetic. Anyone young or old that knowingly and willingly draws anything into their lungs but clean air is a hooplehead. And if that offends any smokers in this crowd, it was meant to. Sue indeed.

Yeah, it might sound hilarious at first, but there're plenty of cases where people sued large companies for absolutely stupid reasons and won. After all, you don't get anything if you don't do anything.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Addiction and depression go hand in hand. EVERY addict eventually wants to stop! But their mind is having a difficult time getting back to normal. They all need help. None of them need or deserve belittling from uncaring, opinionated people.

Giving them compassion and respect may be just what they need to see the light and break the addiction.

No offense, but it doesn't work that way. Addicts never change until forced to by their own mortality.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I have a son in his late 20's that is an addict. Not opioids, but another drug. Wife and I are both in counseling to learn how to deal with him with a counselor who specializes with families of addicts.

Kid refuses to work. Just stays high all the time. Wants a free ride. Currently homeless, broke, and yelling and screaming at everyone in the family to give him money. He needs help for this, he needs help for that. Its everybody else's fault that he's in this situation. He hasn't worked in over 2 years and his wife left him a year ago and supporting him for a year prior to that when he decided he didn't need to work anymore. And dealing with a bunch of verbal abuse when she told him he needed to get a damb job. That's not counting the yelling and calling us a piece of ***** or worse, after we fill up his tank on his truck. Because we didn't give him cash.

And the worst part, his drug of choice is pot with a side order of booze. And he's a mean drunk.l. Absolutely refuses to take responsibility for himself. All he wants to do is get high and play video games. I could keep going since there's a bunch more that he's done to us, his soon to be ex wife, and the rest of the family over the past year.

The point I'm trying to make, is we had to cut him off completely. He asks for help, we inform him the only thing we will help him with, is we will pay for in-patient rehab and counseling when he's ready. Your not getting anything else from us.

It's hard to have compassion, even when it's your own kid, after you've dealt with being verbally abused for over a year because you won't support them or their habits.

Heartbreaking situation you are in, but I believe you are doing the right thing. Love sometimes means you have to let go of that very thing you love the most. I pray you get your son back.

 

[Dftodd]

Lots of ways to take this conversation.

On the topic of dealing with a child doing pot, quitting school, blaming others, anger, video games, etc. We lived it. There is hope. I suppose recovery is much dependent on the will/personality of the kid. In my case, my son 'grew' out of it and got motivated to make something of himself after wasting several years. Some tough love for sure. A girl friend that stabilized him, a younger sister who cruised though college and made something for herself (jealousy as he was the smarter one), and a change of scenery (friends). Very easy for parents to enable because they 'care'. In the end, the person has to want to 'succeed' themselves. Good luck... I feel fortunate I didn't ultimately lose my son. It was ultimately out of my control.

Recently we learned they were expecting this spring! Keep the faith and hope!

Or son is the middle one. Absolutely hates his younger sister. Said we do more for her and the jealousy along with it. What our middle son fails to understand was that he was offered the same opportunities. Want a car, we will do the same thing we did for your older brother. Get a job, save up some money and we will match up to $2,000.

Well, he didn't get a job, and decided to quit school. Daughter was 14 at the time. He was 17. Got booted out of the house for drugs and attacking his sister. Couch surfed and burned his bridges with his friends. Moves in with us, gets booted back out within 2 weeks for after we find drug paraphernalia. He seems to smarten up at this point and joins the national guard.

In the mean time, daughter turns 16, saves money and we help her get a car. Sons back home from boot camp living with us and being a bum. Wonders where his car is. I say get a job, save up, and we will match up to $2000. Well he never does it. So I move on, he grows up a little and moves out.

Once he got through his 6 years with the guard, he decided he doesn't need to work and falls back into the same crap from high school. Same mistakes as well. So, we'll have to wait and see if he finally digs his head out of his bottom and decides he wants to grow up and actually be productive. Till then, I got a tent in the garage and a camp fire grate he's welcome to take if he needs it

 

[Industrial Toys]

So, there is something there to work with if he stuck it out with the guard for six years.