i also glde your son finds someplace he feels acccepted. Its important for us all with some sort of sences of belonging and understanding being extended to us. i belive more so with addicts who generallie are at odds with the world and with others. The lack of coping skills seems to be a common thread hence the 12 steap support groups AA and NA help with peer support, joint identificasion and acceptances, at lest thats the principles they were founded on, sometimes other addicts are not advanced enough in their recoverie to extend this to any great degree to another sometimes just to soare. Hopfullie theirs someone around long enough to have felt the changies that recoverie can bring to life and that they can share with the new additions to the group. As casie said its dowen to the addicted one wantting to stop and change their lives that makes the real diffrences. I think in combinasion avalibilitie of treatment of whatever kind has to be thir and then whatever motivates the addicted one, sometimes rock bottom, is right and necassarie for them, sometimes just the hope of being better that an example of someone recovering canb bring that tips the scales into the balances of the start of recoverie.
I know and reallie belive it isen't an easiething for someone A. to start recovering and B. to stay clean and recovering but it is possible.
I read a scarrie statistick that it is onlie 4% of addictes make it to and then stay in some type of recoverie, death and jail remains for the rest and off course long term psychiatrick care.

So kate following your storie with your son for over a yr now reallie warmes my hart to heer of him doing so well.

i don't know how your familie member is doing CASIE?

DANCER, i also read that food is the first substances that we can learn about that has the abilitie to change how we feel. for example, chocolate, brings about a feeling of a wee high and this is what start the first types of assosiasion between mood or mind alterasion proceding the taking of "something" progression eventualie onto drugs in some cases. yea we onlie talking about sweetie but its the leason learned between intake and resulting consiquinces, people who tend towards instant gratificasion could verie easilie find great plsure in instantness of drug use. maybee thats one of the manie predisposisional factors that can trip someone from going from occasional or recreasional drug user, to problem drug user right up to addicted user.

i don't know think casie said genetic plus circumstancial events can lead to addiction, i tend to agree their.
Still if we can alter the circumstancial with some type of educasional intervention, social skills, coping methods etc then maybee this is way we cut dowen the numbers of addicted people being left to that hell.
the addictes and their families together ends up with a big total of people being hurt within it all.

don't know how to round this off to end it lol so i just end their