My best friends family has been into drugs for a long time....?

Question

She didn't want to be a part of all of it but was an outsider until she joined in. It wasn't her thing and she quit. Its been 15 years since then and she is 30 now. She just recently found out that her mom is selling and shooting up meth. Is there any advice to help my friend help her mom? There are grand children in the picture and she don't see any of them. She thinks that there is no problem and won't go for treatment, even though alot of her family has died of drug over doses. Should she anonamously turn her in to the authorities?

Answer 1

You can't help an addict unless they want it and this lady doesn't want it. Tell your friend to stay away from her mom to never bring her kids around Grandma. This lady is way old enough to know better she's just an old crack whore as they say. If she is selling I wouldn't get involved in turning her in. I'm sure she has some pretty scary friends. I'd back away and stay away. Her mom only cares about the drug. It is a sad situation

Answer 2

First I think you should mind your own business, it's not your place to offer intervention to your friend's mother.

That said, your friend should sit down and talk to her mother when she is not high. The parent child relationship is now upside down, She needs to act like an adult parent to her mother.

There should be consequences to her using to show that it is unaccepable, These can be things like keeping the kids away from her for a certain amount of time after she used. Stopping by unexpectedly to check up on her.

But there also should be some sort of care given, make sure she eats, drinks and sleeps, Don't force the idea of rehab, but offer it as a possible solution.

Simply listen to her mother and offer support. If that is not possible, then stay away from her until she cleans up her act.

Calling the cops, getting her thrown in jail, evicted etc is probably not a good idea, She may regret it later, esp if the mother found out it was her. That could cause even more problems.

Imagine if the mother was suddenly homeless and addicted. Who would bear that burden? If she calls the cops that could really happen, is she ready to deal with it?

There is no easy answer, I am just offering several ways to deal with it. None of which may be the right one. It's just my ideas on how to manage an addicted parent.

Answer 3

That is a tough call.
It is good the grand kids don't see her
It is hard to get an adult in to rehab. It sounds like grandma has been in denial for a long time.

Your friend might try a family intervention. Gather together and take her to a rehab place. The problem is that she could just walk out.

Eventually as an adult a person needs to pay the consequences of behavior.

I would report her. I would also make sure that my kids didn't have a thing to do with her. This drug issue needs to stop this generation......I am proud of your friend for being the one to draw the line.

Answer 4

Wow! Meth addiction is probably the worst. When you feel emotionally good, your brain produces dopamine. When meth hits the brain, the neurotransmitters produce enough dopamine that is about the equivalent of 600 orgasms. Sounds great, huh? Here's the problem: in getting that high, meth has completely fried those neuro-transmitters. In order to get high again, meth addicts have to fry more neurotransmitters. Eventually, they have destroyed the brain's capacity to produce happiness.

I have worked with many, many drug addicts and alcoholics. The ONLY way to put them on the road to recovery is to introduce them to swift and heavy consequences for their actions. Call the cops. Have her thrown in jail. Get her evicted. Whatever! I have seen this hundreds of times and I am telling you that she will not recover without an extreme crisis. It sounds as if the mother will die before she hits rock bottom; I recommend bringing "rock bottom" to her before she dies.

As for your friend: she didn't cause it, she can't cure it and she can't change it. I recommend that she start going to Al-Anon meetings (she should be able to find them in the phone book). She will meet people who have seen and experienced the same traumas for years. They will be able to offer her much more constructive advice than you. They've seen it all, they've heard it all and they've experienced it all. She will learn a much healthier way of coping with her mother.

Answer 5

the best thing to do is call her mom up and tell its bad if she got caught she'd be in the cells for the longest time ever other than to tell her mom to stop and tell her the consiqunces theres nothing she can do but stay away from her mo enless she wants it to get started up again