My friend is addicted to drugs and I don't know what to do!

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I have been friends with this person for over 10 years. We have always had a lot in common (love for technology, music, films, and video games) but it seems like he is losing himself. He is completely different now from who I knew a year ago.

About a year ago, my friend decided to move south to Los Angeles to pursue an audio engineer position. He had friends down there and even had a place to stay. Shortly after he moved there, he got together with his former girlfriend. I then didn't hear from him almost the whole year! While I was driving one day, I happened to see his car was parked in front of his house. We went to lunch to catch up.

He tells me about his girlfriend and how he has been using heroin with her. I was blown away considering he is highly intelligent. How could he do something so stupid and dangerous? He not only admits this to me, but he glamorizes it as well saying "it's the best feeling ever." It seems to me that he was swayed by his girlfriend to try it. He proceeds to tell me the reason he came out here is to kick the habit. I figured, well at least he is trying to get better.

Fast forward a month later. He flies his girlfriend out to visit. She is the typical addict: horrible complexion, unkempt appearence, slurred speech, and a heavy desire to seek the next fix. I started to really see the extent of the addiction just being around them. Later that night, they completely freaked out because they thought they had lost their "bag" at a gas staton.

They are now completely in a manic state and we speed recklessly back to the gas station. They now are going back and forth blaming each other and saying horrible, horrible things. As soon as we got to a stop light, I jumped out of the car and started walking. Their behavior was extremely erratic and they obviously didn't care about my safety, or their own...only finding their 'drugs'

I was absolutely furious, and ignored his calls and FB messages. When I finally cooled down, I read one of his messages. It said he is trying to "wean" himself off slowly and plans to quit soon. I am really torn here. He has been my best friend for over a decade, but I don't think I can keep being friends with someone so far gone....I don't know what to do!

I know his family and I'm considering telling them about whats going on. I know heroin is extremely addictive, and the addict is the only one who can decide to change. I'm hoping maybe someone might be able to give me some advice. It's a tough thing to figure out especially with ASD.

In my experience, addicts will always place their addictions above their friends, unless those friends are providing the drugs or the money to buy the drugs. When you said, "they obviously didn't care about my safety, or their own...only finding their 'drugs'", you said everything you needed to say.

So, are you going to walk away from this inevitable train wreck, or risk becoming a casualty yourself? Heroin-induced paranoia has led to some of my friends and at least one relative being killed because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when the shooting started, or because someone they knew suddenly started believing they were narcs and shot them.

Tell his family -- give them the opportunity to stage an intervention before the cops get involved. Once the cops are on him, his life is essentially over. If he gets rehabbed first, he might stand a chance -- a slim chance -- of making a full recovery and becoming a decent person again.

But otherwise, stay away from him, especially if you value your life.

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'm going to take your advice and cut him off. If not for safety issues alone, also to show that I will NOT support him while he has his problem. I really hate to do that to him, but I cannot get sucked into the madness. Unfortunately, the person I once knew isn't there anymore.