What You Can Do!

Drugs that you can become addicted to include nicotine (cigarettes), inhalants (glue, liquid paper), sleeping pills, pain killers, marijuana (grass, pot, joint, weed), amphetamines (speed), cocaine, and opiates such as opium, morphine, codeine, and heroin.

An addiction to many of the above drugs has the potential to cause a person to ruin his/her own life, risk giving birth to an abnormal baby, break up families, and destroy careers.

If you do not want to hurt yourself and the people you care about anymore, you must decide to change. It is your choice!

Life without drugs can start by taking the following 2 steps.

1. Acknowledge the Drug Abuse Problem.

If the following warning signs sound like you, you may have a drug abuse problem.

Warning Signs of Drug Dependence:

You need increasing amounts of a drug to feel good (Increasing Tolerance)
When not using drugs, you will go through withdrawal symptoms, i.e. intense cravings for the drug(s), sweating, runny nose, muscle aches, irritability, chills, and/or nausea, depending on the drug(s). (Withdrawal Symptoms)
You want to cut down or stop using drugs and have tried numerous times before, but failed. (Lost Control)
You continue to abuse drugs despite being arrested, charged with a criminal offence, and/or having spent time in jail. (Criminal Consequences)
You are not able to judge the dangerousness of certain behaviors, e.g., sharing used needles, having unprotected sex, becoming violent, and/or taking lethal amounts of drugs. (Risky Behavior)

2. Seek Help in Overcoming Your Drug Abuse Problem.

If you are worried about you are abusing drugs or you already acknowledge that you are, CFSO can help.

Counselling services will involve:

Helping the problem drinker set up an appointment with a detoxification centre, if required.
Collaborative assessment and treatment planning.
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the person with an alcohol problem.
Counsellor/social worker and client work together to explore and build upon what motivates the client to change and to utilize these inner resources to get through the often difficult process of recovery.
Bringing out into the open the underlying issues which may have precipitated the abuse of drugs.
Getting the family (or significant others) to participate in the recovery process.
Explore and implement strategies for relapse prevention.

The followings are a list of pamphlets on addiction that are available at Chinese Family Services of Ontario:

1. What Is An Addiciton?
2. Choosing Life Without Alcohol: What you can do!
3. Choosing Life Without Drugs: What you can do!
4. Alcoholism and Faimily Members.
5. Drug Abuse and Family Members.
6. Alcoholism and Youth.
7. Drug Abuse and Youth.

Note: All pamphlets are written in both Chinese and English.

For additional information or direct services, please contact our office at
(416) 979-8299