CMV: Most drug users are not, and do not intend to be, lifelong drug users or addicts. This is a huge reason why addiction recovery rates are so poor.

We have such a twisted and misguided view on drug use that it's hard to imagine, but it simply isn't true that most drug users plan to, or do, use forever. I honestly think that with many drugs, including pot, cocaine, adderall, and xanax, the majority of people who try them stop using within a year or 5 years.<br><br>This is a huge reason why drug recovery rates are so low. Most drugs have very high recovery rates, but the statistics are obscured because there are people who have been sober for 10 years at a rehab facility. There is a huge difference between someone who used to be addicted to heroin and someone who is addicted to heroin. The former is much, much more common than the latter. <br><br>We have this messed up attitude as if someone who is addicted to a drug is guaranteed to be a lifelong addict unless they undergo serious recovery. It just isn't true for most drugs. Alcohol and nicotine have the highest rates of lifelong use, and they also have the highest rates of long term addiction.<br><br>I work with a lot of fucking stoners, and they use drugs when they're at home. They use drugs when they have time off. I've seen tons of coworkers stop smoking weed with no discernible difference in their lives or emotional well-being.<br><br>Most of my friends took hard drugs in college, stopped after college, and are completely sober. They are all perfectly happy on their peptide and testosterone regimens, thank you very much.<br><br>The vast majority of drug users are just people who have a drug problem, not a drug addiction problem. But we lump all drug users together as if we're all the same. We're not. There is a huge difference between someone who is using drugs to get high every weekend and someone who is struggling with addiction.<br><br>I think a ton of people use drugs, realize that they aren't fun anymore, and stop. I also think a ton of people get addicted and don't have access to resources to stop. The fact that we don't treat these people as having completely different problems just completely confuses the discussion and prevents us from addressing the problems properly.<br><br>We continue to frame drug users as people who are either immoral, or chronically addicted. Most drug users are neither. They're people who enjoy getting high and want to get high every now and then.<br><br>CMV