Young People and their Drug Addictions.

My niece is 22 and has a 2 yr old son.  Baby Daddy isn't the father of the year by any means but I think he tries.  He is fully present in their lives.  Or he was anyway until he got caught and taken to prison for a felony warrant that was several years old.  Well he has been in prison for a few months and we try to help out my niece as much as we can.  She is currently living with her Grandmother with her son.  She just got fired from her job for cussing out her boss.  I know...at this point you are all thinking.."good Lord, what a mess"!!!   lol...I couldn't agree more!!  But we love her and do our best to help.

Lately we have been getting calls every other day almost for money.  $20 here, $40 there for groceries and gas to go visit Baby Daddy in prison.  Whatever, we help.  Well this has just become too often and we have been questioning what she is really up to.  She is skinny as a rail.  I mean SKINNY.  Not thin like women dream of being, but hunched over bones poking out and bad skin skinny.  Unhealthy.  She says she eats.  I call BS on that one.  I am also aware that she has pain when she gets her menstrual cycle and sometimes is prescribed pain medications from a doctor when she can afford to go to one.  She has no insurance.

Well the other night, we were talking about her needing money and it came out that she has been addicted to hydrocodones for many years.  So badly that she takes 2 of the highest possible mg pills at a time just to keep from getting sick.  So now I know where all of our money has gone.  It bugs me because she does have a young child to care for and they do need food.  But how much can I "enable" her???

I know all about the drug addiction thing.  It's run deep in my family.  I'll tell you more about all of that later.  I know that an addict will ALWAYS do whatever it takes to get their fix.  I know an addict will always put their drug before anyone or anything.  Need to pay the electric bill?? NO WAY MAN!!  I need my pills now!!!!  My aunt gave me $40 to go to the store!!  Man, but I really do need those pills, or that coke or crack, heroin, or whatever the drug of choice is.  It will always go to the drugs.

She called just a little while ago asking for $20 and we had to say no.  I just can't support it anymore. But I feel guilty and just pray that that little boy is getting what he needs.

What are your thoughts and opinions on the subject?