It is not easy to convince an active meth user to stop using the drug, no matter how much love you put into the effort. Even if you’re his or her or their mother. But wouldn’t it be nice if this Mother’s Day, either your drug addicted children came to see you and be with you (sober), or you become sober so your children can spend that day with you in peace and love?
As former drug addicts in recovery for several years now, Johnnie Rosario and I have the benefit of hindsight. We’ve been there. We’ve had these years to look back and realize where we went wrong, and the excuses we made for ourselves so we could continue using drugs.
So we asked our friends – Frank and Sarah Camacho – who have never been meth users, to interview us along the theme, “Why don’t we meth users listen to our mothers?” The couple tried a few years ago to convince a friend of theirs to stop using meth. Because of Guam’s lack of resources and prevention and treatment education on this matter, they were in the dark about what to do and what to say to their friend. But they tried.
And so, at the start of this interview, they asked us the question: Why is it so difficult to get meth users to know that we truly care about their sobriety?
Ms. Rosario and I dug deep into our experiences, and we exposed the top three excuses we meth users use when confronted with a loved one’s plea for us to stop using drugs:
I feel judged.
I’m not hurting anyone.
I know what I’m doing. I’m an adult and I can control myself.
We hope active meth users watch this interview and wake up to the reality of these excuses and the bigger truth that the people who want them to stop using meth truly love them and want them to be better.
Quit the excuses. Quit today. Be sober for Mother’s Day this Sunday.
