Remembering Consequences of Drinking and Drugging
I have a good friend who is an immigration attorney. She was recently telling me about how recent immigrants or people applying to emigrate to the United States are very shocked when they learn past drug charges might make them ineligible to become permanent residents – sometimes they can’t even come into the United States at all if the charge was serious enough. They will protest: I was young and stupid at the time – I’m a law-abiding person now! That will not always win the argument.
I actually had another friend who many years ago almost lost her husband to his native country because of an adolescent foray into psychedelics – he was found with enough of it to be charged with “intent to distribute” – he was married to an American and had a green card and was now applying for citizenship. At one point there was real alarm about the possibility he would be deported when the drug charge came to light. It worked out – 25 years of stellar behavior, his marriage, and the fact he and his wife had a young child weighed in his favor – but he was at real risk of losing everything.
Sometimes those who have had past infractions can do a lot to make up for it by seeking professional treatment and proving they are reforming their behavior, but that doesn’t save everyone from possibly devastating consequences. The federal government is not as forgiving of the past as your mum might be.
Sometimes it’s a really good thing to just sit back and just remember the bad things that happened when you were drinking or using drugs. The biggest part of overcoming denial is recognizing the negative direction your life takes when you drink or use. Once you fully embrace that drugs and alcohol cause bad things to happen (and the early days where it might have been “fun” are pretty much ancient history), you are one step closer to admitting you are powerful over these mood-altering chemicals.
Remembering consequences can allay any doubts that “maybe I was’nt that bad” – and can keep you on the right track.
