I am the parent of a long-time drug user.   

I agree that forced rehabilitation does not always work. I have tried it with my son.

It’s like leading a horse to water but you can not make it drink. 

I have learnt the first thing we as the user’s family need is to firstly make sure our wellbeing is a priority.

If the user is a danger to us, they need to be taken out of the situation. 

It is not easy as a parent to say “if you can not control your addiction, then you have to remove yourself from us, unless you can abide by our boundaries”.

There have been many times that I have not even known where my son is. 

I have had dreams of my son laying in gutters or even dying. I can not make him stop. I tried many things to help; giving money (that was a big no-no), buying food in the hope he at least might eat.

I would ring my son just to ease my mind that my son was still alive and coherent. 

My son was brought up in a good family as do most users.

My son had me feeling guilty about the way he was brought up. I have since learnt that most users do this to take away their guilt of using.

Many times over the years my health has fallen victim to my son’s addiction.

My family has been torn apart. Family events have not been the same – Christmas, birthdays, mother’s and father’s day. 

I have not seen or spoken to my son for many years. It is the drugs that I have been dealing with.

I miss my loving son. I miss the smiles, the laughter, the jokes, the loving hugs and kisses on the cheek. The “I love you”. I miss seeing all of my children together. 

This is not the way a family should live. The drugs have taken over my son.

My heart breaks. I wish with all my heart that my son will come back to us as he used to be before finding these disgusting drugs.

I am so happy to have found friends at Family Drug Support meetings. They have helped to support me through a lot of trying times over the last few years.

There needs to be so much more help for our challenged ones.

My opinion is that prison is not the answer. Maybe prison farms, where they can try to rehabilitate with in-house care, computer courses, gardening – anything to keep them occupied while recuperating. 

Then, hopefully they can be schooled to go back into society.

They are our challenged loved ones. We need to care enough to get them back with us. We can only hope and pray that a solution can be found not in five or 10 years but now.

It is out of control and I wonder where this will all end. 

If you are reading this and have a challenged one in your family, please get help through Family Drug Support.

My son has certainly challenged me over the years but my love for him has never died.

Family Drug Support runs monthly support groups. 

Participants can be anonymous. 

For more information call Michael Miller on 0448 169 205.