Parenting the Addicted: Scenes From a Substance Abuse Clinic

The mom who started giving her son her Xanax when he was 12. When he was 18 she told concerned friends he did not have a problem with heroin and booked a cruise to take him away from "bad influences." Three days before leaving for the trip, he did not wake up after an overdose.

The mom who buys fentanyl pills off the street for her 20-year-old son who claims his methadone dose is not enough and he needs the "fent."

A surgeon, who felt he had no recourse, called the police on his 32-year-old son, who was arrested for the sale and abuse of methamphetamine. He was incarcerated for 6 months and discharged to a treatment center. The son left the facility after 1 month; he was homesick. The father now prescribes psychiatric medications to his son, who is living at home without treatment. People are most vulnerable to relapse and overdose death within the first few weeks after leaving rehab. Cravings are high and tolerance is low.

The mother who buys her 28-year-old son a bottle of whiskey every night on her way home from work. He spends the day on the couch waiting for her. She is worried he will have alcohol withdrawal seizures and feels that she has no choice.