Drug Addiction

Help required with personal difficulties.
Soma999
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Soma999 »

Those sacred medicine is a way to heal drug addicts. It is studied by scientists from all over the world, and statistics show they have much better results than what modern medicine use on those subject.

Metadone and subutex and just legal drugs labelled medicine, and socially accepted.

You deny traditions which have much to give to our modern world. You should cultivate yourself.
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Grigoris
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Grigoris »

Soma999 wrote:Those sacred medicine is a way to heal drug addicts. It is studied by scientists from all over the world, and statistics show they have much better results than what modern medicine use on those subject.

Metadone and subutex and just legal drugs labelled medicine, and socially accepted.

You deny traditions which have much to give to our modern world. You should cultivate yourself.
So you are saying that your knowledge of drug abuse, derived from years of studying tinfoil hat new age websites, is more valid than my studies and experience in the field?
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Soma999
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Soma999 »

You maybe have high diploma, but you seriously lack knowledge and openess.

You are deceiving yourself.
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Grigoris
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Grigoris »

Soma999 wrote:You maybe have high diploma, but you seriously lack knowledge and openess.

You are deceiving yourself.
:rolling:
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
jet.urgyen
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by jet.urgyen »

Jesse wrote:So I have been struggling with a drug addiction for many years now. Mainly I use it as a means to cope, to self medicate. The problem seems to be no matter how much I want to quit, ( I really dont want to ). I use opiates, and it really feels as if without them I can never have a semblance of happiness or contentedness in my life.

Obviously drugs cause many other problems, and I really need to quit, but Im at a loss how. I have many mental health issues and without opiates I can not maintain any sort of emotional equilibrium. In my experience doctors don't recognize or respect the fact that they do work for me (emotionally), and thus are unwilling to treat me while im still using.

So I guess im looking for support/advice from previous addicts, how did you quit? How long did it take before your emotions balanced out? Did you use any other drugs/herbs to help with the process?

I realize that drugs cause many problems, they aren't a solution, but an escape etc. But I cant shake the idea/reality that without them my life contains no happiness what so ever, it's been a very hard time for me. Though recently I've begun trying to finds other means of happiness (Volunteering, getting out and around people etc.) I'm just not sure I have the willpower to stop using still!

Thanks for reading.
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shaunc
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by shaunc »

There is a rehabilitation center in Thailand run bu monks. They give the addicts some type of herbal medicine as well as teaching some basic Buddhism and meditation techniques. I don't know the name of the centre but it's quite famous. They claim a 50% success rate which if true is far better than anything in the western world.
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Karma Dorje
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Karma Dorje »

Grigoris wrote:
Soma999 wrote:Those sacred medicine is a way to heal drug addicts. It is studied by scientists from all over the world, and statistics show they have much better results than what modern medicine use on those subject.

Metadone and subutex and just legal drugs labelled medicine, and socially accepted.

You deny traditions which have much to give to our modern world. You should cultivate yourself.
So you are saying that your knowledge of drug abuse, derived from years of studying tinfoil hat new age websites, is more valid than my studies and experience in the field?
You don't convince anyone by bullying with your credentials or belittling others. In fact, it makes people question your "credentials" as a buddhist. And calling someone "homicidal" because they suggest that there are medicines that can help with addiction is beyond hyperbolic. It's just kind of silly.

There is no resident addictions counsellor remit on this board. Better for you to argue your points by substantiating your position with facts, research, etc. Nobody gives a damn about your credentials if you can't formulate an argument beyond ad hominem.
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Grigoris
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Grigoris »

Karma Dorje wrote:You don't convince anyone by bullying with your credentials or belittling others.
Yes, you are correct, credentials (gained from 5 years of study) and experience (about 25 years worth) mean nothing in comparison to internet facts gleaned from pseudo-shamanic websites, because it is bullying when you base your view on scholarship and experience. Right? :rolleye:

Welcome to the post-fact era!
In fact, it makes people question your "credentials" as a buddhist.
Is this the same people that also do not accept formal credentials, scholarship and professional experience as the basis for valid opinion? Coz if it is those people...
Nobody gives a damn about your credentials if you can't formulate an argument beyond ad hominem.
I think you will find I have engaged in a little more than ad homs.

Exactly how much work and scholarship have you engaged in regarding drug addiction?
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Karma Dorje
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Karma Dorje »

Grigoris wrote:
Karma Dorje wrote:You don't convince anyone by bullying with your credentials or belittling others.
Yes, you are correct, credentials (gained from 5 years of study) and experience (about 25 years worth) mean nothing in comparison to internet facts gleaned from pseudo-shamanic websites, because it is bullying when you base your view on scholarship and experience. Right? :rolleye:
In fact, it makes people question your "credentials" as a buddhist.
Is this the same people that also do not accept formal credentials, scholarship and professional experience as the basis for valid opinion? Coz if it is those people...
Nobody gives a damn about your credentials if you can't formulate an argument beyond ad hominem.
I think you will find I have engaged in a little more than ad homs.

Exactly how much work and scholarship have you engaged in regarding drug addiction?
This isn't a pissing match over qualifications. You haven't put forward an argument backed up with referenced research. You just expect everyone else to shut up because you went to university and tell us you had a job. Sorry, but that's not very convincing. You have a very dogmatic position on addiction and its treatment, I get that. If you want to convince others, present your argument not just your credentials. If you are arguing against a viewpoint, do so with more than just aspersions cast on its sources. I don't even know if I disagree with you, because you haven't argued for anything. That you belittle others without attempting to understand their point of view is unfortunate. It doesn't even clear the bar of common courtesy, let alone speech between fellow practitioners. You don't own this subject; you don't get carte blanche to make unquestioned pronouncements.

Surely if you went to university, you know how to formulate a convincing argument. Surely if you are a buddhist, you can do so in a kind and respectful manner.
"Although my view is higher than the sky, My respect for the cause and effect of actions is as fine as grains of flour."
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Vasana
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Vasana »

Grigoris wrote:
Soma999 wrote:Those sacred medicine is a way to heal drug addicts. It is studied by scientists from all over the world, and statistics show they have much better results than what modern medicine use on those subject.

Metadone and subutex and just legal drugs labelled medicine, and socially accepted.

You deny traditions which have much to give to our modern world. You should cultivate yourself.
So you are saying that your knowledge of drug abuse, derived from years of studying tinfoil hat new age websites, is more valid than my studies and experience in the field?
For what it's worth, not everyone who suggests certain compounds found in various traditional forms of medicine have their opinions rooted in 'tinfoil new age websites'. There's a growing body of legitimate research out there if you weren't already aware.

http://www.maps.org/research/ayahuasca/ayahuasca-canada

http://www.maps.org/research-archive/ay ... l_CDAR.pdf
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'When alone, examine your mind, when among others, examine your speech'.— Atisha
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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

You know, I get how this conversation can turn contentious.

On the one hand, I get where Greg is coming from, I just had a friend pass away due to complications years of Heroin abuse, have a uncle who went the same direction and OD'ed. In fact, I've had people's addictions touch me very closely throughout my life, and am going into addiction counseling myself.

There is nothing quite as obnoxious to me as someone who has read some webpage on Ayuhausca, Mushrooms etc., and now thinks that all the people who spend their education and time on addiction treatment are somehow "misleading" others, and that someone else has developed a panacea for addictions that somehow the people doing the work just don't know about. It really is exceptionally idiotic behavior to talk this way to people who have watched others directly die and suffer due to addiction.

The thing is, there really -ARE- valid criticisms to be made of the prevalent models of counseling and treatment, they just tend to come from people who actually know what they are talking about and have experience in the field, rather than people who have done "research" by digging up positive data on whatever substance or theory they are into. Or conversely, people who are convinced that all of modern health care is some grand conspiracy to defraud or not truly treat addiction. Here's a news flash for you:

Addiction is hard to treat. No panacea exists for addictions of any kind, that includes ayuhausca, methadone, etc. This should be a simple to understand truism for anyone involved in Buddhdharma, frankly. Those who don't get this are just indulging in fantasy, which comes off as really juvenile when one is around the actual fallout of addiction.

It is in fact possible to recognize that 1) there are issues with many models of addiction treatment, 2) there are positives within many models of addiction treatment, 3) there are alternatives to treatments worth looking into, sometimes. Those three things are not, and should not be mutually exclusive.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

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Vasana
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Vasana »

Johnny Dangerous wrote: Addiction is hard to treat. No panacea exists for addictions of any kind, that includes ayuhausca, methadone, etc. This should be a simple to understand truism for anyone involved in Buddhdharma, frankly. Those who don't get this are just indulging in fantasy, which comes off as really juvenile when one is around the actual fallout of addiction.

It is in fact possible to recognize that 1) there are issues with many models of addiction treatment, 2) there are positives within many models of addiction treatment, 3) there are alternatives to treatments worth looking into, sometimes. Those three things are not, and should not be mutually exclusive.
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Grigoris
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Grigoris »

Karma Dorje wrote:This isn't a pissing match over qualifications. You haven't put forward an argument backed up with referenced research. You just expect everyone else to shut up because you went to university and tell us you had a job. Sorry, but that's not very convincing. You have a very dogmatic position on addiction and its treatment, I get that. If you want to convince others, present your argument not just your credentials. If you are arguing against a viewpoint, do so with more than just aspersions cast on its sources. I don't even know if I disagree with you, because you haven't argued for anything. That you belittle others without attempting to understand their point of view is unfortunate. It doesn't even clear the bar of common courtesy, let alone speech between fellow practitioners. You don't own this subject; you don't get carte blanche to make unquestioned pronouncements.

Surely if you went to university, you know how to formulate a convincing argument. Surely if you are a buddhist, you can do so in a kind and respectful manner.
Do you actually have a point to make in this discussion, apart from pointing out my personal short-falls (ie engaging in ad hom arguments)?

PS I notice you did not answer my query regarding your experience/scholarship in the field of drug and alcohol addiction.
Last edited by Grigoris on Sun Jan 15, 2017 9:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Grigoris
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Grigoris »

Vasana wrote:For what it's worth, not everyone who suggests certain compounds found in various traditional forms of medicine have their opinions rooted in 'tinfoil new age websites'. There's a growing body of legitimate research out there if you weren't already aware.

http://www.maps.org/research/ayahuasca/ayahuasca-canada

http://www.maps.org/research-archive/ay ... l_CDAR.pdf
I am well aware of this body of facts. Thing is that one cannot "prescribe" entheogens on an ad hoc basis, via an internet consultation, to a person with serious drug problems (exactly what is happening in this thread). You just cannot do that. Mainly because these substances (and legal medically recognized substances currently in use) are abused as well. That is why treatment is normally made under supervision. That is why it is also dangerous to send people to drug dealers to buy illegal substances in order to THEORETICALLY treat their drug abuse issues. Dangerous and (like I said earlier) bordering on homicidal.

It reminds me of a Vice news piece where a bunch of ignorant do-gooders wanted to do an expose on Krokodil. So to show how easy it is to purchase the ingredients they gave money to a former addict (one leg amputated due to the drug's side effects) to buy the ingredients and show them how to cook up a batch. Of course the no-longer-former) Krokodil addict disappeared with the ingredients and some of the remaining money never to be seen again.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Grigoris wrote: am well aware of this body of facts. Thing is that one cannot "prescribe" entheogens on an ad hoc basis, via an internet consultation, to a person with serious drug problems (exactly what is happening in this thread). You just cannot do that. Mainly because these substances (and legal medically recognized substances currently in use) are abused as well. That is why treatment is normally made under supervision. That is why it is also dangerous to send people to drug dealers to buy illegal substances in order to THEORETICALLY treat their drug abuse issues. Dangerous and (like I said earlier) bordering on homicidal.

That really is my issue with threads like these also, it's one thing to discuss research on alternative treatments, another to suggest that people should simply ignore treatment recommendations based on some PDF's and random arguments they read online. I don't believe Vasana was doing that at all, but others (further back) in the thread have.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

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Mkoll
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Mkoll »

Johnny Dangerous wrote:You know, I get how this conversation can turn contentious.

On the one hand, I get where Greg is coming from, I just had a friend pass away due to complications years of Heroin abuse, have a uncle who went the same direction and OD'ed. In fact, I've had people's addictions touch me very closely throughout my life, and am going into addiction counseling myself.

There is nothing quite as obnoxious to me as someone who has read some webpage on Ayuhausca, Mushrooms etc., and now thinks that all the people who spend their education and time on addiction treatment are somehow "misleading" others, and that someone else has developed a panacea for addictions that somehow the people doing the work just don't know about. It really is exceptionally idiotic behavior to talk this way to people who have watched others directly die and suffer due to addiction.

The thing is, there really -ARE- valid criticisms to be made of the prevalent models of counseling and treatment, they just tend to come from people who actually know what they are talking about and have experience in the field, rather than people who have done "research" by digging up positive data on whatever substance or theory they are into. Or conversely, people who are convinced that all of modern health care is some grand conspiracy to defraud or not truly treat addiction. Here's a news flash for you:

Addiction is hard to treat. No panacea exists for addictions of any kind, that includes ayuhausca, methadone, etc. This should be a simple to understand truism for anyone involved in Buddhdharma, frankly. Those who don't get this are just indulging in fantasy, which comes off as really juvenile when one is around the actual fallout of addiction.

It is in fact possible to recognize that 1) there are issues with many models of addiction treatment, 2) there are positives within many models of addiction treatment, 3) there are alternatives to treatments worth looking into, sometimes. Those three things are not, and should not be mutually exclusive.
/thread
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Soma999
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Soma999 »

Hi,

I suggested practice in a profesionnal settings, with specialists, not with drug addicts in a "wild session". I gave advice about that and was quiet clear.

I met drug addicts, with shit up to the neck healed by those medicine.

There is a lot of researsh, thesis made by medicine doctorate on those subjects. And statistics. It is not a panacea, but it gives real hope for people suffering of this subject.

In my experience, the fiercest people against sacred plants are some psychotherapist, psychanalyst who feel hurt that some shaman in a few days can make a better work than them in ten years of work.

Using one's diploma as a argument of autority just show your arrogance, not your expertise. Because you have diploma and you think i don't have diploma so i should shut up... well sorry, but things does not work that way. In this subject, you lack knowledge, end of the story.
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Grigoris
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Grigoris »

Double post
Last edited by Grigoris on Mon Jan 16, 2017 1:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Grigoris
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Grigoris »

Soma999 wrote:I met drug addicts, with shit up to the neck healed by those medicine.

There is a lot of researsh, thesis made by medicine doctorate on those subjects. And statistics. It is not a panacea, but it gives real hope for people suffering of this subject.
I don't doubt this, but until these treatments are carried out in a controlled clinical/medical setting I would avoid sending people for treatment. Why? Because a) There are a hundreds (if not thousands) of charlatans out there wanting to take advantage of people in desperate need (eg recovering drug addicts). b) In a clinical/medical setting there is a legal and ethical onus of responsibility on the "healer". This means that if they screw up they are liable, something which does not really exist with all the pseudo-shamans out there.
In my experience, the fiercest people against sacred plants are some psychotherapist, psychanalyst who feel hurt that some shaman in a few days can make a better work than them in ten years of work.
For "real" shamans this may be the case, but the reality of the shaman scene is a LOT different, so due to the nature of the entheogen scene and because you did not actually refer Jesse (who is seriously asking for help) to a specific healer...

The other point is that because shamans do not belong belong to some sort of "association", or do not have an official system of recognition (unlike Tibetan medicine or acupuncture practitioners, for example), then really there is no way to gauge the level of quackery of any particular individual.
Using one's diploma as a argument of autority just show your arrogance, not your expertise. Because you have diploma and you think i don't have diploma so i should shut up... well sorry, but things does not work that way. In this subject, you lack knowledge, end of the story.
Frankly, this part of your post is embarrassing and is yet another (clear) example of the sort of nonsense one encounters on a daily basis in this wonderful post-fact era. Anyway, I didn't tell you to shut up, I am telling you to be careful what-you-say-to-who just in case you become part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Soma999
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Re: Drug Addiction

Post by Soma999 »

For a center, located in Peru, who have some good experience in treating drug addict, there is Takiwasi. It was founded in 1992 and combine shamanism, psychoterapy and occidental medicine.

It works with all kind of drugs addicts, and also even the worst case of drug addiction.

As with everything that is out of the norm, they have some criticism, but considering statistics, they demonstrate very good results compared to what is generally done.

They have some official recognition, and they have also a worldwide recognition for their works, what the acheive and attracts scientists from all over the world who come and study their practice.
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