Addiction Recovery

Ever since illegal drugs burst onto the national scene in the 1960's, drug addiction has been an epidemic in the United States and in many other western nations. A drug addiction can easily destroy your life and can take from you almost everything that you value - your family, your friends, your money, your job, your health and your self respect.

Drug addiction is very serious. More than 19,000 people a year die from using illegal drugs and it is estimated that over 16 million Americans have a drug addiction problem.

The kinds of illegal drugs that people get addicted to are many, but they are all very dangerous. Some of the most common drugs that Americans get addicted to include marijuana, cocaine, crystal meth, ecstasy, heroin, LSD, PCP and ketamine (special K).

While there are many types of illegal drugs they have one thing in common. They are destroying lives.

The following statistics come from US NO DRUGS.....

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*In one research study, approximately 1 in 5 people between the ages of 16 and 59 said that they had taken at least one of the drugs mentioned in the study.

*People ages 18 to 21 were most likely to admit having taken drugs with almost half (46%) claiming to have taken them.

*More men than women said that they had taken drugs. 24% of men and 16% of women had taken at least one kind of drug in their lives.

*Amongst those ages 18-21; 51% of men and 38% of women had taken drugs.

*More men than women had experienced taking more than one drug at a time. 52% of men but only 36% of women who had taken drugs had taken more than one type.

*Marijuana was the most commonly used drug, experienced by 12% of all participants and 24% of those ages 18 to 25.

*19.5 million people over the age of 12 use illegal drugs in the United States (Mayo Clinic).

*There were 601,776 estimated drug-related emergency department episodes in 2000. Among these, there were 1,100,539 drug mentions. Keep in mind, more than one drug may be in a person's system at the time of admission.

*Alcohol in combination with other drugs was the most frequently mentioned drug at time of emergency department admission (204,524), followed by cocaine (174,896), heroin/morphine (97,287), and marijuana (96,446).

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So how do you know if you are addicted to an illegal drug? The following are some of the common symptoms:

-The feeling that you can't get through the day without the drug.

-You are not able to control your drug use. In other words, “one hit” is never enough.

-The feeling that you must always have a supply of the drug.

-Repeated failure in trying to stop using the drug.

-You may find yourself driving under the influence of the drug even though intellectually you know that it is wrong.

-You may find yourself stealing money or committing crimes to obtain the drug.

-You may experience increased irritability and anger, and you may find yourself resorting to violence much more easily.

-The feeling that you must have the drug to deal with your problems.

-You may have many unexplained absences from work and have difficulty sleeping.

If you are addicted to an illegal drug, there is good news. You can get free if you are willing to fight to do so. 

There are basically four key steps that you need to take.

#1) Admit You Have A Problem

Most addicts refuse to admit that they are addicts. They ignore the problem and so they never get any treatment for it. If you are going to beat this, then at some point the first step is to admit to yourself and others that you do indeed have a problem.

#2) Decide That You Want To Change

Many addicts are perfectly content to stay in their addicted state. It is comfortable for many of them. But in order to change you have to decide that is what you want, and you aren’t going to accept the pain and suffering that your addiction is causing you any longer.

#3) Reach Out For Help

Talk to someone that you trust and ask for help. This involves swallowing your pride. Often a good first step is to reach out to a trusted family member. After that, reaching out to a professional who works in the field of your addiction or reaching out to a spiritual advisor can be extremely helpful. You are likely to need help in overcoming your addiction, and family, friends and licensed professionals are there to be that help.

#4) Turn To God

Ultimately this is the most important step. Many have found that they did not have the power in themselves to beat an addiction, but that when they turned to God they found all the power that they ever needed. The truth is that we all need God whether we are addicts or not. We are all messed up in some way and we have all sinned. But the good news is that Jesus Christ came to this earth to die for our sins on the cross. We urge you to invite Jesus Christ into your life today, because He will not only help you overcome your addiction - He will forgive your sins and give you eternal life, and nothing is more important than that.

To learn more about how you can become a Christian, we would encourage you to read this.....

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1049/1049_01.asp