Do you do drugs with your family?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

One of my friends recently told me that he started smoking pot when he was hanging out with his cousin, uncle and aunt, and they offered him a joint. Another friend of mine has informed me that she smokes pot, smokes cigarettes and drinks with her mom. (Both friends, as well as most people I know including myself, are under 18.) Yet another one of my friends has been drinking with his parents for several years.

How many people do illicit drugs with family members or were introduced to them by family members (underage nicotine/alcohol count as illicit drugs here, although alcohol has plenty of licit/non-recreational underage uses)? Siblings/cousins/etc. certainly count, but I myself am more interested in hearing about drug use between relatives of different age groups.

None of my relatives (AFAIK) are illicit drug users; several are or have been nicotine or alcohol addicts, but would never bring me into it. (Actually, part of my family lives in Minnesota; they’re not addicts, they’re professionals, as Lewis Black says about Wisconsonites. No offense to Midwesterners intended.)

Even more interesting to me would be stories of being introduced to hard drugs by relatives, especially significantly-older relatives. I’ve heard of people being introduced to weed, nicotine, alcohol, etc. by their family–but what about the next level of drugs? Very interesting social phenomenon.

(Neither this poster, nor this post, nor the Straight Dope or the Straight Dope Message Board, nor the Chicago Reader, condone, advocate or encourage illegal activities.)

#2

I don’t do drugs with my family.

Several friends I know enjoy sharing the odd joint, pill, or line of speed with their siblings, which is not exactly what you’re looking for.

I can think of a few people who have smoked pot with their parents, but nothing more than that. One was introduced to pot by her (post-modern hippie) parents when she was 12 (:eek: ); another in his 20s shares the occasional pipe with his (doctor) father. Both are normal, well-adjusted young people.

I’ve read about people taking ecstasy with their parents and then having the an honest Deep & Meaningful chat, but no one I know has done this.

#3

I was intordued to pot by my mom at 13. It was the only time we’ve had any drugs in common, though.

#4

Interesting.

(I don’t think people who smoke pot or do drugs with their family turn out to be awful. The not-condoning-illegal-activities line was just to make sure that the post is kosher and the thread won’t be locked and whatnot. I’m actually on the road to becoming a bit of a [soft-]druggie, if anything.)

#5

My dad’s been giving me wine since I was 10. Not so I’d get drunk, just to try it. Anyway I’ve drank with my dad lots of time. When I was underage too.

But drugs?

I wouldn’t toke up in front of my brother. He frowns on my nicotine (which I haven’t indulged in for a week, thanks to the flu, now I need my fix.)

#6

Macrophage: Toke up? Just cigarettes?

BTW, have you looked into nicotine patches/gum for times when you can’t smoke but don’t want to get irritable from the withdrawals?

Not to hijack my own thread, but how bad is your brother? Is he always needling you about how bad smoking is? I’m not a smoker–the extent of my tobacco experience is a single clove, and I don’t intend to ever smoke more than once every month or two–but I find it irritating to no end when people try to make my decisions for me. How do you live with that coming from your family, esp. siblings? Or is he just uncomfortable with it (as opposed to trying to make you stop)?

#7

I should add that I’m not, and never have been, an avid drug user. I’ll partake occasionally, in a social setting, but that’s only about once every four or five months.

Drugs, alcohol and tobacco use being condoned by my parents worked wonders to keep me uninterested in using them. Which, in turn, wreaked havoc on my social standing.

#8

Interesting. I’ve seen that (parents condoning ATOD use) go both ways: some people do what you do and decide not to use because it’s condoned, and some people are more likely to do it when they know they won’t get in trouble.

(Coming dangerously close again to hijacking my own thread…) My parents don’t condone ATOD use, but hopefully if they found my N2O canisters they would accept that I’ve done my research and I know what’s safe and what isn’t, and that I’d never do anything in a way that would harm myself or others. They know I’ve done a lot of formal and informal drug research (they don’t know about any participatory research, AFAIK), and I think they know that I would avoid dangerous activities. Of course, they’re probably of the opinion that all illicit drug use constitutes a dangerous activity. But maybe they’d come around.

#9

Well, I wasn’t present on the occasion (shame) but apparently, for my mother’s birthday once, either mum’s cousin, or my brother, had brought along a nice bit of black hash.

NB- Both Mum and Dad, had, it seemed, already expressed a wish to get all open-minded and give it a try. (Neither smoke cigarettes, FWIW.)

Brother said it was funny, yet annoying in a way, because, of course, the dope had a better hit on people more used to it, so brother said they kept making him skin up, while he wished to be able to say - “No - I did the last one” and just, you know, contemplate, laugh or chatter fun nonsense for a bit.

Then said, brother, the CelynDad said (after sitting quietly for rather a while, perhaps showing great attention to the music or the television,) "Bah - this stuff must be a waste of money - it has NO effect whatsoever - I think I’ll make some sandwiches. " Well, of course, he made about 5 tons of sandwiches and ate a fair share of these tons of munchies, and had a very happy time, BUT he never could quite see why Brother thought this so beautifully funny. Although I suppose brother might not have been explaining all that coherently.

I think Dad stopped short of the traditional, “Oh, we must walk at once to the nearest all-night shop - want chocolate now, and pizza, and…”, but it sounded like a close -run thing.

Mum’s report was that she "had a very nice birthday, thank you, dear, and that her cousin (or my bruv) had kindly brought along a box of “Black Magic”. Of course, this had me giggling when I heard it on the 'phone, 'cos, although “BlackMagic” is indeed a brand of chocolate assortment here, I think Mum was not aware that I know of the other refreshments that evening.

Damn whatever exam or other commitment kept me from being present. :frowning:

Oh, and Mum and Dad remain fine upstanding citizens, btw, as do I and my brother, for that matter, and mother’s cousin.

#10

BTW:

ATOD == Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs.

#11

One more point–you don’t have to tell me that someone who tries pot remains a fine person (I’m not saying that anyone is specifically trying to convince me)–it doesn’t bother me that some of you say that, in general, but please know that it is not my view that pot is evil or that “drugs are bad”. As I’ve said before, I indulge in the occasional drug here and there, and recently have been using N2O a little more than occasionally (I’m mostly quitting for a couple of weeks, though, so I stay in control of it).

#12

Wow - ty for that, fetus - I suddenly saw this “ATOD” thingy in your posts and could not see where it came from, which worried me: consuming nothing stronger than camomile tea, I’d have to assume I was going quite properly absent-minded.

:slight_smile:

#13

Too bad you missed your family hashing it around, Celyn. Bet it would’ve been interesting!

I’m not sure I ever want to see anyone in my family on weed (from the standpoint of it not being very entertaining, or from the standpoint of it being just a weird thought) except maybe a couple of my cousins.

#14

I meant mary jane. I feel weird smoking nicotine around him I would never smoke weed in his presence. As for how insistent he is that I quit, he isn’t, he’s just uncomfortable with it, and that in turn makes me uncomfortable. Never looked to the patch or gum, I can handle myself. The only bad times are after I eat (oooooh that delicious after meal smoke). But I manage. I’ve noticed I’m not that physically hooked on it… but I enjoy it to damn much to quit now.

He’ll probably post his feelings later on, he’s a doper too.

#15

That’s good (that he isn’t insistent on you quitting). Get well soon.

Any more drugs-among-family stories?

#16

Oh well… c’est la vie. Although perhaps I should persuade them to try again at New Year. :slight_smile: I could really make nice cakes…“Look .Mum, specially nice shortbread!”… Hmm - no - my mother’s conversational logic is pretty loopy all the time, so perhaps it’s best that her drugs of choice remains theobromine.:slight_smile:

Ooh, just recalled - a friend of a friend (OK, OK,) got to be quite keen on Mary Jane when training as policeperson. Story goes - they all got some so as to be able to identify the dreaded substance. She thought it quite good and thereafter had a previously non-existent extra-mural activity to keep secret. Well, I do find it hard to believe that any smoking or eating would have been permitted, but 'tis the story I heard, and it amused me anyway, FWIW.

#17

My parents bought alcohol for us when we were in high school. The rule was we could not leave home if we were drinking. If our friends were there, they could not leave. I never had to hide the fact that I had been drinking. ( although I did )

At family reunions ( my family is a blast ) we all drink. I don’t have a problem with underage people drinking as long as their parents know, and they are old enough to understand that drinking is not something they should do all the time and they should under no circumstances ever drink and drive.

I only tired pot once when I was 15. I didn’t like the way it made me feel. When I came home, my dad knew, but didn’t say a word. I know he has smoked pot at home, but not in front of my siblings or me.

Recently at a cousins wedding, my aunt and her three sons and I went back to the boys’ hotel room. We all were tipsy from the wine and beer at the reception. Out comes a joint, it gets passed around my three cousins and then to my aunt. I was pretty shocked. I knew she knew they were into it, I didn’t know she was into doing it with them. Then my mom and dad knocked on the door. Dad comes in smells what is going on, looks at me, doesn’t say a word. Everyone is sitting there chatting away. ( me still not smoking, ftr, neither are my mom or dad ) About a month later my mom asked me about it. She didn’t believe me when I told her I had not participated in the group activity they had seen. She didn’t believe me until my aunt ( her sister ) had told her that I didn’t do it.

My dads side of the family has a lot of parents who are open about drinking and drugs with the family.

#18

I’m definitely the cleanest person in the family; the strongest substance I’ve ever ingested with them (or anyone else) was a glass or two of red wine, unless you count prescribed post-surgical painkillers. I know most other family members have dabbled in various things, generally recreationally, although one cousin of mine did have a pretty serious coke issue for a while.

However, there was one very surreal moment in college. Driving cross-country with my grandparents to go home for Thanksgiving, they confessed to me in the car that my aunt had given them a joint in an attempt to get my grandfather to relax and chill out. (His health is not so good at the moment, but back then he basically had the personality of a steamroller on crack. It was impossible to get the guy to sit down and relax.) As I tried to pick my jaw up off the floor of the back passenger seat, they told me that they tried it, but didn’t see what the big deal was.

#19

I’ve been drinking wine with my family since I was seven.

#20

Ok, I will chime in. Mine isn’t a happy story. My dad gave me my first alcohol, my first joint, and later my first line of meth. He was a practicing alcoholic at the time. This started me on a downward spiral of drug use and eventual meth addiction that took 10 years to beat.

Don’t give your kids alcohol or drugs, please.