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Old 11-17-2006, 12:45 AM   #4
wolf
lobber of scimitars
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Phila Burbs
Posts: 20,774
You have wandered into an area I know a lot about, luckily, not because of family involvement, but because this is part of what I do for a living.

Although I work in a mental health facility, I see a lot of people whose primary problem is drug use, and often engage in criminal behavior surrounding that already criminal activity. I have had a patient who stole duragesic patches and oxycontin from her mother who was dying of cancer because she wanted the cheap high. I have had patients who engaged in theft, robbery, and prostitution to support their habits. I have had patients engage in several varieties of fraud including writing bad checks, forging prescriptions, and credit card and identity theft, from families as well as strangers.

In short, I've pretty much seen it all ... it doesn't matter what drugs the person is using, the other behaviors tend to be similar.

Being nice, "helping," enabling, whatever you want to call it does not benefit the drug user in any significant way, and causes further hurt to you. Sometimes bridges need to be burned, and NOT rebuilt. You might be approaching one of those times.

You can do what you have been doing, or you can draw your own personal line in the sand. You've made some good moves are far as trying to protect your credit, but a decision needs to be made as to whether she remains a part of your life, or part of your past. You can call the police to report the credit card fraud. As bad as it would be for you personally, it's almost a shame it's not a higher amount, because the charges would be more serious.

Most of her getting sober is on her. She has to make that decision. She has to take the steps to find out where and how to get help, and how to either establish funding through medical assistance, or to see if there is a state or county program that will provide inpatient detox AND rehab (both are necessary for her to even have a chance at getting clean).

In most states drug and alcohol treatment must be voluntary. In the few states that do have involuntary commitment for D&A treatment, it's not clear whether it's even worth it ... off the top of my head, less than 2% of people who want to get clean manage to stay clean. Going into treatment is less than half of the battle. Once you're back out in the community, back to what AA and NA call your "People, Places, and Things," being back amongst all your old triggers for use, all your using friends, and all the places you went to use, the trip back to the bottom of the barrel happens even faster than before.

First step for you might be to make a connection with Al-Anon. Even if she's not a primary drinker, this is a well established organization that exists to support family members of people who use, and they can offer a lot of good information on how to proceed, and, if you're in the same community as your sister, a lot of information on local resources.

Good luck. You have tough choices to make here. Make sure that you have a good support network for yourself in this.

Progress usually can be measured in inches, not years.
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"Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island

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