Breaking The Cycle

[Stingray_313]

I have a close friend of mine who recently quit marijuana and cocaine.
He says its not that hard to fight the cravings to get high and such,
but the biggest problem is just the day to day life he normally lives.
Everywhere he goes, people ask him if he wants to buy any, or he goes
to parties where people are all sitting around smokin and such. He says
that this is the hardest part.... breaking the cycle of smoking and
doing drugs with friends.



Every time he is with me and i have a joint or something, he is really
tempted to smoke it, not because he wants to get high, but just because
he misses that life style so much. Any thoughts on how to help this???

[jduba]

Tell him to avoid friends like you for a while! no offense but he needs
not be around the drugs or sources of them. this is impossible to do
forever but until e has reached a goal or benchmark and feels he can be
around these things and not feel the NEED to do them. he has to get
himslef to the point where the substancs are a reminder of the past and
the hardships they brought they must become a symbol of something bad.
being around those same friends will lead him nowhere but down esp at
the beginning of his journey to recovery. its not that hese are bad
people or that they do wrong but there is no need to put youself in
situations that pull you away from your goals. as friends you have to
understand this and respect it while realising friendships may change
but this may be needed for him to live a healthy productive life! You
must not allow a high to define you as a person or run your life! there
is wayyy to much out there you will be missing and its better to
realise this before you are looking back in regret and dispair that
those days were lost. not preaching but dont want others to have to
experience pain and stuggle that many friends including myself have
felt. it sounds that his addiction is at a maintainable state so he
should act on it before it becomes a lifelong battle

[paulywould]

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<TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNABLE="off">People places and things are what make most addicts or users (if you prefer) start using again. Jduba is right. You two shouldn't hang out for a while. Sorry. Or, if you care enough about him trying to stayclean, you should not use around him. Let him get some time under his belt away from pot and coke before he is around it again. According to NA and AA he should make every effort to stay away from those situations unless he has appropriate businessbeing there butlife never exactly goes the way we plan and most likely someone somewhere in the world will end up using and will be aroundhim. At least give him some space for the time being.</TD></TR>
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