I was talking to a police officer who also was a bishop for awhile. We were talking about how society is too fixated on drugs and dumbed down entertainment and how a lot of society's ills stem from people being distracted, not thinking for themselves, and needing a crutch or an escape instead of really taking the time to define the real problem and do something about it.

I've been out of the church for a decade and really don't follow what goes on with it other than hearing some Mormon relatives bring stuff up.

The police officer works in southeast Idaho and says there is a methamphetamine problem in the church. He says members of the church are getting on various types of stimulants because they can do so much more. In other words the demanding non-stop treadmill of Mormon life burns them out. Also, the competitive nature of Mormons wanting to outdo their Mormon peers makes anything that gives them an edge more appealing.

Another thing that came up was missionaries are ending their missions in larger numbers. I guess these kids are just lazy or that is the excuse the church leaders are using. Apparently these missionaries go out into the mission field and don't do anything. I know kids today are far more lazy than we were. I see so many of them who should have a summer job and they just lay around and play video games. Frankly, they don't seem to have the same drive to make their own money and get out on their own that we had.

Now I look at the church as an outsider and what I observe is the church is no longer a church. It's a corporation. It has taken it's members for granted and why not, the members bend over backwards for a church that doesn't care about them and really does nothing for them. But these people seem to love they are members of an organization that can finance a $5 billion mall. They seem to like to be in an organization full of a lot of successful people. I think what the members of the church really want is attention and to feel important. That's what they get off on and they need other's approval to feel good about themselves.

This is where the danger lies. Too many Mormons have no idea who they are. They have spent years giving their authority to others and running on someone else's program. They have no idea who they are or what they want. All they know is they want to look good in the eyes of their Mormon peers and they knock themselves out.

Deep down inside they should know there is something wrong and deep down inside they are miserable. You only can run on phony hype for so long before you start to break down. That's where the drugs come in. These people might not set a foot into a liquor store but they embrace Prozac with open arms. They might not smoke a cigarette or a joint but they might take some prescription pain killers to cope.

Now it sounds like more and more are using amphetamines. I'm sure the bad economy and Mormon's bad habit of getting into debt adds more pressure to what already is a stressful situation.

I look into the eyes of so many Momrons and they look so dazed. Almost insane. They certainly look stressed. These are the types who once get a taste of how much easier a drug makes their miserable little lives, they get hooked and this seems to be what has happened.

All I can say is what a mess. It's almost like the bad karma of the church is coming home to roost. I really don't see that Mormons are any better off than society in general. Society is screwed up and so are the Mormons and in fact, their flawed and dated system is driving the membership into insanity and drug use to cope. What they need more than anything else is honesty. Living a lie will eat you up more than anything.

Pinheads in Utah like to use Robotussin for a cheap buzz.

They who condemn coffee drinkers.

As the mother of a newly-reformed dex-head, I think a lot of that has to do with the legality of the drug. Nevermind that the psychotic-like behaviors are often illegal in themselves. And the schizy thinking can persist. Bad stuff, let alone mixing it with huge quantities of caffeine in energy drinks, imitation marijuana, and real marijuana. Fried brain.

I know of several Mormon women who use NyQuil regularly to help get them to sleep. I also know of a Mormon woman who was in search of ADHD meds from various people... She was finishing school and said she needed it to help her thru her final exams...

Shortly before I left the church for good, one of the inactives in my ward mentioned that one or both of the ward counselors was a drug addict. I was totally shocked at the time...not so much any more.

There's a saying that says, You're only as sick as your secrets.

The church has some real whoppers for secrets. It is sick. The people are what make a church a church. The church's secrets are making them sick. Why nobody inside seems to recognize that, I don't understand. To be it's very obvious.

I'm not saying it is a good way to send that message, but the other ways, as we often see here, can be pretty painful and intimidating.

As for missionaries quitting, between what they have seen on the net before going on a mission, and no longer being isolated, what with cheap cell phones and free email accounts, I'm surprised the "screw this, I'm leaving" rate isn't something like 50%.

I bet it sucks to be an MP these days, dealing with mishies who know too much and want out. It always sucked to be a mishie.

I think the problem is that the best way to be drug free is to be high on life. I know that sounds cliche but finding happiness without the need of a chemical substance is the best way to ensure that individuals wont seek substances to make them happy.

Of course, the church kills a person's ability to simply enjoy the little things in life. Which is why (I believe) so many Mormons turn to drugs -- legal and illegal -- to fill the void in their lives. So many members of the Church are unhappy and wonder, "What is wrong with me?" So they seek happiness in bottles and pills.

Look at all the Utah MLMs. Most of them are not really selling products, they are selling lifestyles. They make astounding claims about how happy they will make you. One of Melaleuca's early marketing presentations was actually called, "Man's Search for Happiness" it was later changed to, "Our Quest for Happiness."

http://www.melaleucablog.com/our-quest-for-happiness/

Anyway, not only is the LDS Church NOT the solution to happiness in this life, it's actually the cause of the misery. The LDS lifestyle leads to increased risk for substance abuse due to it's removal of life's natural healthy highs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2012 01:21PM by The Man in Black.

In other words, Jacob 5:43 is right on the money.

It gives you a feeling of well-being, energy, and sometimes invincibility. You can stay up and make the house spotless, make cupcakes from scratch, and plan 6 weeks worth of TSCC lessons. Plus, it's a fantastic appetite suppressant, so no weight worries! It's also very easy to hide in the beginning of usage: You can slip it in your daily Diet Coke.

Unfortunately, then you get the come down and all your dopamine is depleted; You are depressed, exhausted, cranky, and hungry as hell. Just like with any hard drug, you need more and more to get the same kind of fix. You go from 10 cents of speed to 25, then to 50, and so on...... Eventually, you turn to other III MoDs instead I:Ingestion. When you get to IV:Intravenous, it really gets ugly and you don't even recognizer yourself anymore. If you're lucky, your family steps in and gets you into rehab before you are arrested or worse.

No suprise from this chica it's becoming more and more common amongst the Mos. There was a film around 6 years ago about this very subject titled, "Happy Valley."

When you take a group of people and say "Whoever does the most good deeds and achieves a the highest status gets to become a God in heaven" they will certainly take up the opportunity. Why? because they are human, and it is in human nature to crave power. The GA's give the members a status they can obtain in heaven, and it turns into something like the hunger games down here on earth to obtain it. They will do anything to keep themselves going, they will do anything to put others beneath them all because they have this idea of a God whose love is conditional and prefers the ones who do the most good deeds and acheive higher statuses in order to become like Him. They love ignoring the facts of the real world around them. They take this drug called the LDS church that makes them tranquil of reality and power hungry for something that may or may not exist after death. How do they have the audacity to critisize others for temporary, simple things like drinking coffee, yet they remain in constant oblivion of the real world and dangerously competative of one another? If they truly believe that one sin can be bigger than another, then they should sit down for a minute and think about the comparison I just gave.

Adderall for ADHD is used by mothers now...something about they take their kids to the Dr to get Dx and then use their kids meds for themselves...

I think drug abuse has been around for a long time but now just getting the press...

I was at the YMCA today and a lady in my H2o class is a drug councler ( sp) and herion is huge in my city now..starts off as prescription drug abuse..

I am a retired RN and back in the day, nurses were using patients morphine then refilling the syringe with saline to give to their patients..

I am not so sure it is a Mormon thing and not just part of the bigger society. Of course if you're in SE Idaho, the chances are good that the users are LDS. But, where I live, there are plenty of users and I don't see a significantly higher proportion among LDS members.

She told me the other day that patients in Utah know more about prescription drugs than any other state in the union. Specifically, they know a LOT about painkillers, tranquilizers, and sleeping pills.

My aunt, also in Utah, took a myriad of prescription pills. She visited various doctors to get her prescriptions. When our grandmother died, she rifled through her room at the assisted living home and took all the medications.

She died a year later of an accidental drug overdose. She took her nightly pills, woke up a few hours later and took them all again. Between the painkillers, blood pressure medication, and whatever else she was taking, the double dose killed her.

T-Bone

My 50 yr old tbm DIL died a couple years ago not from an accidental overdose, but simply from drug interactions from her scrip meds. Benzos and opiates plus other crap, and like so many others today (even young returning military vets), her heart just stopped while sleeping.

Even our local surf hero died this way. 3 time world champ Kauai Boy surfer, dead at 33 from drug interactions.

Adderol is huge in Utah.

I have a friend from Utah born and raised, very educated but she is nuts. She has her kids on every medicine there is. Something to bring them up, something to bring them down, then the little girl (10 years old) starts shitting her pants at school. On top of all these meds they drink soda after soda. I think before I drug my kids I would adjust diet. Diet makes a big difference put something healthy in thier body. She has 4 kids and they all take stuff. I have a hard time believing that they all need prescription meds, 2 of them are adopted so it can't be they all need it because of genetics. & she is always dipping in their meds. The way I may show up to a dinner party with a bottle of wine she shows up with a prescription. She is going to kill one of those kids with all the drugs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2012 10:32PM by libertad.

Hey get a grip. MANY "home teachers" have been caught stealing drugs from the elderly families they "minister to". One trip to the bathroom is usually all it takes. (my Dad was a victim--whoops 40 OxyContin missing--5 left--hmmmmmm grit your teeth Dad. Don't tell the damned Bishop--like he would do anything).

My 65 year old BIC TBM mom is a prescription med addict (benzodiazepine) for almost 20 years now. This is ironic to me because for most of my childhood she leveled the 'alcoholic' charge at my ex-mo dad for having a couple of beers (3 or 4) every week.

It has only been in the last decade that my dad began actively abusing alcohol. I believe he began drinking heavily after my mom retired for 'health reasons' and basically became a hypochondriac recluse, leaving the house only to go to church or doctor's appointments.

Shortly after leaving the church in the 80's, my dad sank into a deep depression - an entirely understandable state of affairs given his particular circumstances at the time (TBM wife who would not leave church, 6 kids under the age of 16, and a recent job loss). Yet that started his 30 year-long love affair with psychiatric medication. Currently in recovery from alcohol abuse, he's nevertheless dependent (and barely functioning, imo) on a cocktail of Lexapro, Seroquel and Depakote.

There's a part of me that thinks my parents would have been better off divorcing years ago. They met as teens at BYU, dad served a mission, then they married in the temple...8 years later my dad left the church and has been an atheist since then. He wasn't the shy retiring type either: he tried vigorously for years to convince my mom to see that mormonism is a fraud. Didn't work. I chose up sides as a kid and was my mom's stalwart defender until I finally left at 18.

I think the desire to medicate mental/emotional pain is a universal human urge, but I'll be damned if mormonism doesn't seem to have a uniquely twisted ability to rip apart families, cause severe depression and anxiety, fill one's daily life with a sense of unreality, overload and confusion, and feed all sorts of bad mental habits and ways of thinking: entitlement, superiority, narcissism, shame, guilt, worry, and worst of all bafflement when hard work and being one of the elect doesn't result in blissful happiness and success.

There's where the mindf*ck comes in: if you're unsuccessful and/or suffering, it's 'obvious' you are not keeping the commandments or otherwise being 'faithful' enough.

Try harder!

Madness...

What's interesting is I worked with a lady who used to work for the Grateful Dead. She was also good friends with Carlos Santana. Most the people who lived through the drug era of the 1960's don't take drugs now. Most the members of the Jefferson Airplane are still alive and none of them drink or do drugs anymore. I spent a few days at Jorma Kaukonen's ranch and there is a strict no alcohol or drug policy there. I signed up for Jack Casady's bass class and he said it's pretty sad to see people still stuck in the 60's still trying to live what they thought was there. He said LDS is a mind expanding drug but it's also a life limiting drug. He said he realized it's all about living a quality life and doing what you want to do. For him it was music. I joked and said he went to a high school class reunion and some of the people he went to high school with had there or four careers. He said he had one. Playing the bass guitar and had a blast doing that his whole life.

The problem with most Mormons, they never got the chance to discover themselves. A person really does need the freedom to go find their version of God so to speak or what life is about for them. I'm such a believer in when a person turns 18 that is the time to go for it. Time to get out on your own and the more traveling you can do at that age all the better. I think instead of going on a mission a person should see the world at that age and then they can get serious once they know a little more about themselves and what they want out of their life experience. In the church some old men have already laid out your life for you with the exception of exactly how you make your money. But when and who you marry has been laid out. They even tell you what underwear you can wear and how and when to wear it.

former hippies, especially musicians, with a grain of salt. When that movement started, it was about a bunch of intellectuals, musicians and artists getting together and smoking grass or dropping acid in a relatively peaceful, civilized setting. Then, in the seventies drug use, and particular hard drug use, hit the masses, and, per usual, the masses ruined it. The intellectuals, musicians and artists are suddenly living in a world where their agents, accountants, all the petit bourgeois middle managers and stuffed shirts they can't stand are doing what they were doing in the sixties, but in a much darker, more selfish, and capitalistic way. And that means it's just not cool anymore. So the intellectuals, musicians and artists quit.

A little oversimplified, but you're not wrong, JChan.

The Brotherhood of Eternal Love was a big West Coast importer/distributor of LSD and pot in the sixties, and actually claimed to be idealistic about it, as they claimed they were tryng to change the world for the better. They used some coke in their own parties (hey, they were all about feeling good, right?), but didn't deal it in any big way.

But in the seventies, they started selling coke etc. heavily. Tho some no doubt dropped out in disappointment, the "hippies" who controlled the ops went for the big bucks.

Lots of sixties hippies continued using psychedelics as a tool of spiritual discovery, but there was a movement away from the lab and to the organic, as they learned to grow their own cannabis, mushrooms and cactus.

The Brotherhood of Eternal Love professed idealism, but they were just gangsters at heart, or they would have promoted homegrown organics from the get go.

In the past five to eight years heroin use has exploded here. Fifteen years ago heroin was around, but perceived as dirty (smoking heroin hadn't come into vogue yet) and expensive. Heroin is now very, very cheap and a "cool" drug again. I have at least one friend in rehab for it right now, a high school acquaintance of mine just died from an overdose. I grew up in Utah County and have dozens of high school friends who have had major addiction problems in the past fifteen years, including several who have died.

Misuse of perscription drugs in the Mo?????


NO NO NO

tell me it ain't so, joe

lol, I agree that many of the 60's era people learned young the dangers of drug use. It was all new then.... and most of us who lived learned the downside.

We grew up and can discuss both sides from experience

scripts particularly appeal to Mos because it is simply legal, so off to the races as far as correctly translated.

^^



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/2012 11:45AM by mindlight.

Drug abuse is a large problem everywhere, why should the church be any different? Actually when you consider that the same situations that make one prone to being a drug user are the same conditions that make one prone to being religious, why should we be surprised to find a lot of overlap?

perhaps it matters how they handle said cases

eh?

I think that is where the church falls short. blind eye blind eye

Are there any free inhouse rehab programs for fallen Mos?
i don't think so

that could be a start ..... muses on 5 billion being put to better use benefiting the members of Mo

cover a portion of the cost of certain rehab programs such as Cirque Lodge upon request and under certain conditions.

In my 30+ years in the Mormon church, I never knew any regular drug users who were active believers. I knew teens who had gone inactive and had started drinking, smoking and using drugs, but no Mormon mommies taking meth to get through all their parenting and church jobs. It's just one of those things that was drummed into us, or me anyway. I'm not saying it's not possible, but I have a hard time imagining it.

My exmo stepdad had a son who became addicted to painkillers after a bad accident, and he died a few years ago from an overdose.