2012 conventions 2012 election 2013 session arts arts and culture author ballot measures basketball bomb books boy scouts budget bullying business charlie hales children clackamas climate change coal college courts crime culture culture club democrats drugs economy education environment family film fluoride food gay rights guns handguns health health care health insurance high school history housing immigration internet kitzhaber language law legislature lgbt literary arts living marijuana marriage media medicine mental health military minor parties mohamed mohamud movies music native americans news newspaper obama olympics oregon our town parenting pers photography police politcs politics port portland portland business journal president prevention public safety religion republicans rnc romney rural salem sam adams sandy hook schools science shooting sports suicide supreme court taxes technology television terrorism theater third parties transportation union university of oregon washington wildfire women

My dad was addicted to marijuana since he was a teenager. I know from talking with people that there is a myth floating around that marijuana is not addictive. But this is a lie.

My dad was psychologically addicted to marijuana. He used it for 30 some years to block out emotions and life itself. Even when my mom was sick with breast cancer or in the hospital after a back fusion, he was there for her and us physically, but, emotionally, he wasn't there. He was disengaged.

On the outside, our family was picture perfect. But it became so disfunctional that dad even started supplying and smoking with my brother, who is still to this day trying to stop.

What really turned dad around was mom giving him an ultimatum. She filed for divorce, which she didn't believe in, and he finally went to inpatient treatment.

He has now been clean for three or four years. I'm 25, and it feels like it's the first time I've had a dad, like he's really there now.

For every story like mine, there are hundreds of thousands who don't get clean, whose families don't get them back.

I would say that secrecy and deception are among the worst enemies to recovery. Anyone who thinks they can get free of an addiction without telling anyone is decieved. Dad tried it for years. The thing is, he wasn't strong enough to prevent getting addicted in the first place, and eventually he learned that he was just as powerless to stop.

Lastly, I think, for the friends and family affected by the addict, it is very important to talk about it, whether in a support group or in a religious setting - because we are affected more than we know, even if we weren't the ones addicted.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
view in context