Expert: Jacqui - 12/22/2008

Question
I am desperately trying to quit crack and I mean DESPERATELY!But I keep relapsing over and over!!!I can actually afford what i use in the sense that I do not put myself in financial jeopardy,but my whole life revolves around this crap. I have NO CLUE how to stop. Others who have quit around me are a much busier than me. I do NOTHING. i have a man giving me money and I stay home torture my poor German Shepherd with CONSTANT petting and way too much attention. He is almost running away from ALL THAT LOVE(lol)_. He will will have bald spots from excessive petting if you do not help me!!! (lol) He can only do so much to keep me from using and I eventually fall into it again from sheer boredom. I have been using since I was 12 and did prostitution to pay for it.(I am 38 now) I have only 1 guy now and I do not work the sex trade .But I cannot stay sober for more than a week and its taking a tole on my German shepherd. Help.

Answer
Hey Natasha,

Firstly, I just wrote a big long response and then hit the wrong button and lost the lot!!!!  Damn!  Anyway, where was I?  I guess the main thing to consider with drug use is what is important to YOU.  I tend to gloss over when I hear government crap about drugs (drugs kill and they are bad, but lets kill some iraqi civilians - I guess it doesn't make any sense to me).  What is important is what matters to you.  It sounds like you are very isolated and that the crack is the only thing that is giving you much joy.  

If there was a magic bullet to stop drug use then there would be no drug use.  There is.  Lots of it.  So it is up to the individual to assess what is most important to them.  There are quite a few types of drug treatment and many of them are pretty useless (if a private company runs it, be sceptical).  For example, detox is pretty much useless as once the drugs get out of your body then thats it.  And drug make people feel good so of course they are going to want to use them.  Whilst I am not a huge proponent of NA or AA, some people find it really helpful as it is a support network of people who have had similar experiences.  I think that the first point of call might be getting linked in with a counsellor of some description.  Have you tried this before?  Perhaps if you could tell me what you have tried, then I can have a think about what else is out there.  Also, where are you?  

One big problem with drug use is that people are just judged so harshly.  If you were drinking a bottle of Crystalle once a week would you be so hard on yourself?  Unfortunatley though, crack is illegal and champagne is not, so that is where the problems lie.  I am a strong advocate for drugs being decriminalised.  So many americans use drugs and it doesn't make sense that they are all criminals.  However, my little rant isn't gonna made a difference. I must admit though, you and Obama have something in common!

I do abide by a philosphy known as harm reduction.  We know people will use drugs (have for thousands of years) so acknowledge there is no point trying to stop it, so should ensure it is as safe as is possible (ie: needle exchanges so people don't get HIV) and support people so that they can contribute to society not lock them up.  I must admit that I don't know a lot of about harm reduction for crack as we don't really have it in Australia (cocaine is just way too expensive here), but I could do some investigating.  

Natasha, let me know what you have tried and where you are (town, city, state - I am in Australia so don't assume I will know where every little US town is).

Jacqui