Nobody plans to become an addict, hooked on tobacco, or addicted to alcohol.  Addiction starts slowly, often in these stages:

1.  Social use and experimentation

2. Mild tolerance and more time spent with increased amounts of the substance to get the desired effect

3.  More of a focus on getting the drug

4.  A change of friends, and routines become more and more focused around the substance

5. The body starts to need the drug to feel normal, otherwise some mild withdrawal symptoms begin to show

6.  Often times a person’s morals change with increased use of the substance.  They might start to do things focused around using the drug that they previously would never have done

7.  Personal confrontations and situational problems increase as the “user” starts to “forget” things or neglect duties and obligations

8.  The person may retreat into the comfort of the drug using friends and the avoidance that the “high” provides

9. A person might start to get into more and more immoral or illegal behaviors to get the drug (deal, steal, do sexual “favors,” lie, cheat, blame others, rob, recklessly gamble, etc…)

10.  Feelings of loss of control begin as a life of consequences starts to take over

11.  Personal alienation occurs, reliable friends leave the person alone, people stop lending money, forgiveness eventually is hard to get

12.  The addict “hits bottom” and feels demoralized.  For quite some time, they might not admit that their problems are caused by the substance, but rather, the addict might endure a long period of self-pity and blaming others.

13.  Eventually, when family and friends stop enabling, the addict cannot support their habit and costs related to the consequences of an irresponsible lifestyle.  Popular convention says if the addict does not get help, addiction leads to “jails, institutions, or death.”

Jails……..  Institutions……. Death…..

or………………………. YOU DO  HAVE A CHOICE!!!