is there a study linking drug of choice and life expectancy-health concerns

[LuvOrlando]

I was watching drugs Inc. last night which was all by itself very disturbing and within the documentary a dealer/addict stated life expectancy for meth addict is seven years. I've also noticed a horrible change in attitudes about drug abuse not being really dangerous among today's teenagers (when did that happen?). We have friends with older kids in college we saw Thanksgiving with stories of using the most disturbing combinations freely and I started wondering why is there such a difference in attitudes? How come most adults will watch everything they eat to increase life expectancy while kids obsess about milk having hormones and meat having antibiotics but have no clue about the dangers of drugs ( my purposes including alcohol and weed). I'm thinking its the constant studies being dumped into our consciousness. Where are all the studies about meth, ecstasy, alcohol & weed etc? Aren't they happening? If so why aren't they as glossy & pushed as the new plague of corn syrup?

Its just bizarre that people know more about the trouble with pesticides and bees than the pesticides used on a weed crop in some other country with no EPA. The info has got to be out there but I cant find it to share with my kids.
One of my kids friends is in a scary bad place (I Was with him in the ER last month because he was being suicidal & raging on something but I have no idea what he was high on) and if anyone knows where I can find any sort of information of life expectancy & health complications graphed out by substance I'd like to find it.

I can't ask around where I live because I don't want to provoke gossip, people saw the ambulance here and I'm making assumptions and I really don't want to feed that it might do further damage to the child & this kid has been through enough. I just want info.

 

[Christine]

I'm not sure if it's really been officially studied due to the fact that most of the substances are illegal and doing a long term study like that would definitely not be allowed.

That said, teens/college kids think they are invincible and nothing bad will ever happen to them. In some part of their mind, they know it's risky but it won't happen to them. It's the curse of youth. I was like that too. Then at some point around age 24 it was light a switch flipped and I was saying "OMG, what am I doing?" I don't think you can ever change that part of the brain.

Last year, some long time friends of ours lost their son to a heroin overdose. He had actually only used it a few other times. Even though all the publicity was out on people dying left and right, he didn't think it would happen to him. He was 22 years old, a volunteer fireman, and was in a very lucrative trade apprenticeship. By all accounts, a "good" kid, never any trouble. But, much of the youth is looking for a thrill and there is easy access to this stuff and the NEVER think they are going to be one of the statistics.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

A lot of these drugs now circulating around have substances in combinations that aren't known or typical. Why do people make and take them? I think it boils down to money. Dealers make money off them and people like students and others take them because they are accessible and cheap. So I'm not sure you'll be able to find any studies that have any particular drugs of today (other than the "classics") because they're made of unknown, often lethal concoctions. (But there is plenty of data out there about substance abuse. Personally, I think seven years is too generous, unfortunately. It's gotten worse. )

First responders, including police and paramedics are now carrying and trained to use Narcan (an opiate antidote), which is saving many lives. Scary to think many of these people saved would be dead without it. I have an aquaintence who told me he has found his handsome, personable, drug addicted son slumped over the wheel in respiratory arrest three times. When I spoke to him last he almost sounded like he'd resolved to the fact that his son was going to die of a drug overdose someday. I'm sure most of us probably know families who are living this nightmare.

I'm not sure what the answers are to solve this problem. I did see this, though, the other day. Truly sad. Maybe it will have the impact you're seeking.

Faces of Addiction: GIFs Show the Toll Drug Addiction Takes on the Human Body

 

[LuvOrlando]

Thanks but this is baffling. The impact of substance abuse has a staggering effect, it is now viewed as an actual illness and causes untold financial losses to all of us. If you add up all of all incarcerations police expenses medical expenses caused by substance-abuse never mind the children born to addicted mothers and the health issues that plague them, even worse are the valuable lives lost and the contributions these kids could've made. The kid I went to the ER with has nearly a 5.0 GPA and is brilliant but everything he could be might be lost. He's the kind of kid that Du Bois spoke about in the talented 10 & i can still reach him, I know I can but I'm not his mother and I don't know how, I offered to let him stay here but he's proud. I'm hoping I can reach him with hard facts that are impersonal. My heart is just breaking. Everyday home on break should be fun but our town is full of parents who aren't home with their kids and kids are having house parties and I keep waiting for a terrible phone call

 

[Acklander]

Life expectancy doesn't seem to matter as much to those using or abusing (since everyone dies of something) as much as quality of the life lived.
For example, when I was a smoker, the statistics of how much sooner smokers died vs. non smokers didn't really effect me. That was a date way in the future and we all know someone who didn't have the cancer even though they smoked for a gazillion years, and dying from lung cancer beats dying of dementia and blah, blah, blah. There is always a reason on why it didn't pertain to me. Now, smoking in relation to quality of life - that I could see front and center. I was spending money that I could be spending on something fun instead, and the smell was on all my clothes and in my car, and I had to go outside in all sorts of weather to smoke - those were the reasons I quit smoking, not because of some vague life expectancy that might or might not pertain to me.
I think it's the same with anything we do that's bad for us - drugs, tobacco, alcohol, junk food or whatever - if it's something you really, really enjoy - you're going to find a reason why those statistics don't Really matter. You have to look at how it's effecting your immediate life and relationships.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I know, sigh, i smoked cigarettes too. My thinking is that if I can get to these kids before they take that next step from alcohol and weed (not ok but lesser evils) i can make them question the intelligence of the next step choice before addiction is an issue.

 

[Bluestars]

I know, sigh, i smoked cigarettes too. My thinking is that if I can get to these kids before they take that next step from alcohol and weed (not ok but lesser evils) i can make them question the intelligence of the next step choice before addiction is an issue.

I am so sorry for your kid's friend. It sounds like his issues are much deeper than being solved by an education about drugs. Unfortunately, addiction and mental illness don't listen to reason, in my opinion. You can't educate it out of a person, nor bribe, lure, harass, beg, plead, love, or hate it out of them. It's something that is so deep inside that the addict needs to reach out for help and want the help.

I think it's very kind that you want to help and maybe something you say or do will make a difference. You never know what it will be that will trigger the person to choose recovery. There are some inspirational books written by former addicts that might help the person relate on his level. Good luck. I hope this person gets the help he needs to recover.

It's heartbreaking to watch a person struggle with addiction and mental illness. Even harder is the feeling that you are helpless to save them. I think it would be meaningful to offer to be there for that person if they ever need to talk.

 

[Acklander]

But you can't get to kids with statistics. Just like statistics didn't prevent you from smoking, it won't prevent someone from doing drugs. Al-anon is helpful for helping YOU from getting lost in someone else's adiction.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Bluestar, if you know of any books I would love to hear.

Aklander, truthfully my original reaction was to be defensive & list why I dont need alanon however the more I thought aboutit the more I realized that that is exactly how codependant personalities react. I never thought of tgat as a possibility. Honestly, i was raised to be an enabler and usually check myself as soon as I feel those reactions stir but caution is usually reserved for adults or hints of manipulation. Since this is a kid it never even occurred to me that sort of a behavior could exist. Kids are dependant on adults as the natural order arent they? This particular child does not have a stable environment so I've been filling in as best as i can. Without too much detail parents split ages ago, attorney dad has custody but isnt around much & his brother left for the military a few months ago acting as the catslyst. If i thought i stood a chance i woukd seek him out through legal means but in the state of Pa i think he is legally ok to be alone. This young man is desperate for his families attention not mine but I do 'see' him and would care for him if he would let us- but he wont. I need to tread carefully.

Not sure what to do

 

[Squirlz]

There are no standards for illegal drugs either. What do you test when the potency and consistency are all over the map? When you're willing to put unknown garbage into your system I don't think statistics are going to sway you.

 

[Bluestars]

LuvOrlando, I will message you with some book suggestions.

That boy's life sounds like a mess. I hope that he will get some psychological help as well as help for his drug problem. Only he can make those choices, but having people who support his recovery will help. This is different than enabling his behavior, which is a messy trap to fall into.

I look at it like this. The addict/mentally ill person is like a person who is drowning in a river. Enabling him would be to jump in and think you could save him by carrying him ashore and making his struggle easier. All that will happen is that he will take you down with him. Supporting his recovery is throwing him a life preserver so that he has something to hold on to should he choose to save himself.

 

[LuvOrlando]

How do they test the effects of cholesterol or pesticides in foods? Sedentary lifestyles? There are plainly additional contributing factors there too because people who do one often make other questionable choices. Im not a scientist or anything but if they can come up with parameters to isolate one factor with these sorts of things they can do the same with alcohol etc

 

[LuvOrlando]

Bluestars, i dont think thats what Im trying to do. As much as I would like to think I could save a person I am aware thats not possible. If he is set on being self destructive I cant stop him, or anyone else to be honest. At best I can offer an alternative set of facts so he can make informed choices. I can let him know he matters to me & I can tell him his life can be more than what he came from but ai know I can't save him anymore than anyone else could have saved me.

In the ER I did tell him that although other broken people are familiar & comfortable and that he will be drawn to them because they make him feel 'normal' he should avoid that and seek out stronger straighter trees and grow along those no matter how hard that is because he needs to figure out how to be healthy from other healthy people. I have no idea how much he heard but I hope he let my words sink in.

I wish there was a right answer, I dont know if the statistics woukd help or go ignored, I wish I knew the right thing to do but I dont know, all I can do is try & keep trying

 

[Bluestars]

Bluestars, i dont think thats what Im trying to do. As much as I would like to think I could save a person I am aware thats not possible. If he is set on being self destructive I cant stop him, or anyone else to be honest. At best I can offer an alternative set of facts so he can make informed choices. I can let him know he matters to me & I can tell him his life can be more than what he came from but ai know I can't save him anymore than anyone else could have saved me.

In the ER I did tell him that although other broken people are familiar & comfortable and that he will be drawn to them because they make him feel 'normal' he should avoid that and seek out stronger straighter trees and grow along those no matter how hard that is because he needs to figure out how to be healthy from other healthy people. I have no idea how much he heard but I hope he let my words sink in.

I wish there was a right answer, I dont know if the statistics woukd help or go ignored, I wish I knew the right thing to do but I dont know, all I can do is try & keep trying

I don't think that's what you are trying to do either. I was just making a comment from my own perspective of dealing with people with certain issues. I think letting him know you care and are there for him if he needs assistance in getting help to recover is very kind. He will appreciate knowing that you care.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I hope so, thank you

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The problem is that illegal drug use is a part of "managing mental health" for a fraction of the people, which it sounds like this is the case here.

Instead of getting statistical facts on drugs, is it possible to get him to go to a mental health professional? Is he in school at the moment?

That sounds like a heart breaking situation.

My sister has a neighbor next door that has a son who is going through stuff as well (threatening to stab his mother as one example). My sister told the mother to get him to counseling. She did, thank goodness.

Rage and suicidal behaviors really need a professional imo.

 

[DawnM]

It isn't that they haven't heard, it is that they are choosing to do it anyway.

Smart kids know the dangers of all of the things you have listed.

We had an acquaintance whose son fully understood the dangers of alcohol and still was involved in a fatality involving alcohol. It was terrible. He was a very smart kid who had just gotten in to a very good college.

Most of the kids I have counseled have read/heard/know the stats on drugs and alcohol. They are making choices they know to be wrong but teens have an "it will never happen to ME" mentality. They feel they are invincible.

And then there are those kids who DO know the dangers and stay completely away from all of it. Not all kids are involved.

Dawn

I was watching drugs Inc. last night which was all by itself very disturbing and within the documentary a dealer/addict stated life expectancy for meth addict is seven years. I've also noticed a horrible change in attitudes about drug abuse not being really dangerous among today's teenagers (when did that happen?). We have friends with older kids in college we saw Thanksgiving with stories of using the most disturbing combinations freely and I started wondering why is there such a difference in attitudes? How come most adults will watch everything they eat to increase life expectancy while kids obsess about milk having hormones and meat having antibiotics but have no clue about the dangers of drugs ( my purposes including alcohol and weed). I'm thinking its the constant studies being dumped into our consciousness. Where are all the studies about meth, ecstasy, alcohol & weed etc? Aren't they happening? If so why aren't they as glossy & pushed as the new plague of corn syrup?

Its just bizarre that people know more about the trouble with pesticides and bees than the pesticides used on a weed crop in some other country with no EPA. The info has got to be out there but I cant find it to share with my kids.
One of my kids friends is in a scary bad place (I Was with him in the ER last month because he was being suicidal & raging on something but I have no idea what he was high on) and if anyone knows where I can find any sort of information of life expectancy & health complications graphed out by substance I'd like to find it.

I can't ask around where I live because I don't want to provoke gossip, people saw the ambulance here and I'm making assumptions and I really don't want to feed that it might do further damage to the child & this kid has been through enough. I just want info.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Mystery Machine, I totally agree that he needs professional help but I'm not his parent so I am limited. I thought for sure that once this child was admitted to the ER because he was suicidal & raging AND under the influence of something, he would be forcibly admitted for a 48 hour psych eval and an interview with CPS. I'm not really privy to what happened but I think he was home the next morning. The twist here is that his parents are divorced, his mom is an immigrant with poor English skills and no family here and his dad is an attorney. Mom isn't in the picture and I suspect the drove her off, although I can't be sure she didn't just abandon her boys when the dad left her for someone else. I dont really know the circumstances but i have only met the parents 3 times and this kid has practically lived at my house since they were in seventh grade, although he was always very candid I suspect he was coached. This young man was slright until his brother graduated hs and took off for the army in September & now its just a downward spiral.

DawnM, I don't really think this child is acting out of rebellion I really think he's just suffering from a deep depression and wants one of his parents to save him. I know lots of kids do it because they are bored and belligerent but I don't think this is what that is, I genuinely believe he's crying out for attention and simply lacks the guidance to realize that this can have long-term repercussions.

It's like watching someone drown and simply not being the one who they want to save them. I came from a troubled home I know what that is but I really don't know how to help him out of the hole, it's something a person really just has to climb out of themselves and I'm not sure he's going to make it. If he was sober I think he would be fine but compounding the bad si
tuation with substance abuse spells disaster.

If I had any say in this at all he would be in a rehab facility, then again if I had any say in it at all this never would've happened. I really do not understand why the hospital let him go without observation. It's as if they wrote off all of his behavior as being a part of being high. The weirdest thing is when the police came to my home and the ambulance drivers were at my home and I spent 3 hrs at the ER not a single person asked me anything, I wasn't interviewed they didn't ask me a single direct question.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Update I took all the medications in our home and put them in lap tops size code safes, about $40 at Walmart. Now I'm trying to figure out how to lock up the liquor, we don't drink often but I do have a lot because I like mixed drinks when I do want something or we entertain. We've been locking up our cabinet with those slip ties but at this point I want to take stronger measures. I'm terrified he might get into something here and I don't want that on my conscience so if anybody has any idea of a good way to lock up alcohol I'd like to hear of it- right now the front runner is removing all the stuff on the floor from my downstairs coat closet and installing a lock on the door. I was thinking about a locking hope chest type of thing but they are hard to find and seem $$$

BTW, according to the kids there are dealers for alcohol and drugs so no one has ever taken anything from our home, still it would be irresponsible to not try harder. Have I mentioned how much I hate the teen years :/

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Update I took all the medications in our home and put them in lap tops size code safes, about $40 at Walmart. Now I'm trying to figure out how to lock up the liquor, we don't drink often but I do have a lot because I like mixed drinks when I do want something or we entertain. We've been locking up our cabinet with those slip ties but at this point I want to take stronger measures. I'm terrified he might get into something here and I don't want that on my conscience so if anybody has any idea of a good way to lock up alcohol I'd like to hear of it- right now the front runner is removing all the stuff on the floor from my downstairs coat closet and installing a lock on the door. I was thinking about a locking hope chest type of thing but they are hard to find and seem $$$

BTW, according to the kids there are dealers for alcohol and drugs so no one has ever taken anything from our home, still it would be irresponsible to not try harder. Have I mentioned how much I hate the teen years :/

When we needed to we did put the liquor in our bedroom closet and installed a lock on the door.

The closet also has my jewelry and all the strong meds locked in a safe in the closet.