Reaction to Tweak

Tweak

There are a lot of books and movies about drug addiction and the toll it takes on a person and on their family. Many of these are fiction or biographies about another person. Nic Sheff's book Tweak is his autobiographical account of how he grew up in a household which allowed him to become dependent on drugs and alcohol, although the parents were not directly involved, and how it impacted his adult choices. Further it shows the lie that a lot of addicts tell themselves; namely, that they are in control of their actions and that they can quit their drug of choice whenever they want to. In reality, an addict always has the chance and indeed the likelihood of relapsing unless they go about overcoming their addiction in the proper way. This book is very powerful because it shows how a child's development and what their parents do impact their children and also how those experiences impact the adult addict. Sheff's book would probably make a lot of people uncomfortable because of its honest depictions of the horrors of drug addiction and the ways the disease begins and how it ultimately ends or if it does at all.

He writes that the first time he got drunk was at the age of eleven. Because of his early exposure to alcohol and then to drugs, he became more involved in drug use. Statistics back up what he asserts. The earlier a child is exposed to drugs and alcohol, the greater the likelihood that they themselves will have a substance abuse problem by the time they reach adulthood. If you start drinking at eleven, then it is likely you start smoking soon after that. Then, as in Sheff's case, you experiment more and more. Eventually, Sheff was using pot, cocaine, pills, and finally methamphetamines and heroin.

Meth is the drug of choice and the one that Sheff struggles the most with. It is a horrible drug which destroys your gums and teeth and skin because you are putting harsh chemicals into your body which are not natural. What is worse is that meth is one of the most addictive of all the illicit drugs that are out there. It becomes habit-forming almost from the first use for some people. Taking meth gives energy and some people start using so that they can get work done or so that they can become thin. They foolishly believe that they can use the drug for the benefits they perceive it to bring without themselves becoming affected by the detriments of meth usage. Over and over again, people convince themselves that they can use meth once or twice and that this is all they will need. Then they can give it up. This is the lie that meth addicts tell themselves and Sheff is a prime example of this. He writes that he really believed he could just use the drug when he wanted and then be done.