need help with Marajuana addiction!

[Baldie's Mum]

I need to help my brother. He is addicted to pot. He is smoking alot. He is still working and contributing to society, but he is also sleeping about 12-13hrs a day. He is really angry and aggressive (not physical but verbal) He hardly speaks to me at all, and just doesnt get that he is getting very withdrawn, besides his contact with people that need his drugs.

He is known as the "pot head" of the group and has changed his circle of friends 3 times in the last 2 years.

He is 21.

Is it stupid to be telling my parents to send him to rehab? Will rehab work? What would you suggest?!?!?!?!?!

:hugs: Thanks for your help...... :gloomy:

[Fuchsia!]

Rehan won't work unless he wants to quit. Its not as easy as just saying he will quit, theres the whole emotional side to it.

He needs to want to help, all i can suggest is you support him the best you can and let him know that you will be there to help him when he is ready to face his demons.

He sounds depressed, maybe suggest he see's a psychologist

[~BEXTER~]

I don't know that there is much you can do until HE wants to change.

I never went to rehab just jumped straight off everything, but I was ready to.

Maybe call a rehab and ask them what they think, they would know which option would be best for your brother.

sorry I am not much help

[Pinkzy]

He does sound like he's dependent on weed if he's becoming withdrawn, sleeping unusual and long hours and being verbally aggressive.

The only way he'll go to rehab is if he wants to. Your parents can't force him, nor can you. The only thing you can really do is suggest it to him but it sounds to me like doing so would most likely push him even further away and possibly/probably make him withdraw from you all together. As they say, you can't help somebody who doesn't want to be helped and it doesn't sound like he'd even go - from the sounds of it he doesn't see his cannabis use to be a problem himself.

Cannabis users who also deal/sell weed do tend to sort of stick to the same type of people. If he's dealing to people he's become close to, then his circle of friends will probably continue to change....or his current circle of friends will continue to grow larger. The dealing itself will make it extremely hard for him to stop his use. Unless he gives up the dealing, I doubt he'll give up the using and vice versa. Before he's ready to stop doing both, then unfortunately there isn't much you can do besides being there for him when he's ready to stop his ways.

[Baldie's Mum]

Rehan won't work unless he wants to quit. Its not as easy as just saying he will quit, theres the whole emotional side to it.

He needs to want to help, all i can suggest is you support him the best you can and let him know that you will be there to help him when he is ready to face his demons.

He sounds depressed, maybe suggest he see's a psychologist

We have taken him to a psychologist.....we offer help every 5 seconds, mum is pretty black and white, she comes from a family of addicts. Her sister had a HUGE drug problem for most of her life. Her brother is an alcoholic and smokes about 2-3 packs of winnie reds a day....... Dad is going deeper into the emotional side of his addiction. He wont talk to anyone about his feelings but i think thats cause he has none left, they are all stoned! :(

[Pinkzy]

Has he been diagnosed with Depression or any other mental illness before?

Usually psychologists/psychiatrists will treat patients who have both a mental illness and drug dependency (or addiction) as a dual diagnosis. Basically, one problem can't be treated unless the other problem is being treated too and unless he's willing to accept or admit that he has a dependency on cannabis as well as being depressed, I'm not sure any help would be beneficial to him at the moment.

You can try to intervene but it sounds like you/your family have already tried that and it hasn't worked. I don't think he will be able to stop until he's ready to, with or without help.

[Baldie's Mum]

He wouldnt get a diagnosis, he doesnt give enough to the appointments. Then, he just doesnt show up!

Dads side of the family most (inculding me) have really bad anxiety disorders. I have been hospitalised because of mine, but of course he doenst think anything of his drug use....He said to me one day "ask any doctor, they will tell you i am going through my teenage and young adult life normally and healthily.....Not all of us get married at 21 like you" NOICE!!!!!

So, i dont think he will go with anyone to psychologist/psyciatrist.....ect and definalty wont go to rehab, he doenst think he has a problem.

Cant the family do an intervention???? :rolleyes:
DR PHIL STYLE!! :o

[mimsie]

Unfortunately like others have said he needs to be the one who wants it. No matter how much everyone else wants it for him, unless he's prepared to take the process seriously and get the help he needs - and there is help available - it's unlikely to do much more than cause the rest of you even more stress and heartache. Not only that but if he did decide to try something for other people and not because he wants to, the chances of failing are higher and that can then make it even harder if and when he does make the decision that he's over it and wants to get better - because then he'll look back and think it's all too hard, because he didn't make it last time.

It's a really sticky position to be in, especially from the sidelines. Before my DH was my dh, and when I was pregnant with DS, he was quite heavily into drugs, and some pretty hardcore ones. Watching that is horrible, so I know how it feels being close to someone and wanting them to be well and healthy and happy so badly. I got lucky with an ultimatum (drugs/fatherhood - no pressure, his choice but was only going to get one of those options) but only because I was prepared to follow through with it, and because I happened to do it at a time when he was ready to quit. If he hadn't been ready when I did that in his own mind, then he would have chosen drugs - or chosen us and then gone back to drugs.

[Tam-I-Am]

Marijuana isn't actually phsyically addictive - but like anything, it can be very psychologically addictive, and until he addresses the psychological issues regarding why he feels like he can't function without it, then he won't be able to stop using it.

YIf he feels like there's nothing wrong with his pot use....then there's nothing you can really do until he realises that he's destroying his life and wants to stop.

I'm sorry :( :hugs:

[Pinkzy]

Definitely no point in trying to do an intervention.

If he won't speak to a psychologist because he doesn't think he has a problem and if he hasn't listened to you or your family in the past, I highly doubt he will now. Until he sees his cannabis use as a problem himself - any intervening will only aggravate him further I believe.

Apart from dobbing him in to the police for dealing cannabis (and I highly DO NOT recommend doing this) - there isn't a lot you can do to stop him using or selling the stuff. To be honest even if you did do that it may only stop him dealing in the short term, I can't see that it'd stop him using.

Edit: And I agree with Tam-I-Am. That's why I've been using the word 'dependent' in this case :)

[crazymuma]

Unfortunatly there is nothing major you can do - you can't force an addict to quit - its hard enough trying to force them to recognise they have a problem.

If he ever decides on rehab though be careful where you put him - my ex went into rehab 2 times - the first place he smoked a joint with a counsellor on the first night!! The second place he was having cones in the bathrooms at night - he said there was more drugs in there then he had access to at home:rolleyes:

[MissTia]

I am battling a addiction to pot. It has been bad for a while but now I have a at home detox plan. The doctor has prescribed Neulactil Tablet 2.5 mg 8 a day? Does that seem like alot?

[RiffRaffMama]

There is an awesome website run by (I think from memory) the Australian Drug Foundation. They have a free anonymous online chat thingy where you can chat to a drug counsellor on the website and ask anything about the sort of help you could get your brother. If I got the site wrong then google "online drug counselling" and it should come up.
Best wishes.