Hi Anon0801,
I’ve just read through your story and I’m sorry to hear about your situation and struggles with the addict in your life.
I myself am an addict, I had issues with cocaine for a good number of years, however more recently I was addicted to crack cocaine and heroin although I haven’t used either of those drugs for a good while I can’t really class myself as clean as I do still smoke cannabis. When I get the intense cravings for the crack I tend to use the cannabis and although not ideal it is the lesser of two evils.
I wanted to answer your question about whether an addict can be the person they once were before the addiction. I can only speak for myself and my experiences and I know that in active addiction the manipulation and lying about pretty much everything is standard behaviour but I found that when I stopped using the class A’s and didn’t need to find ways to get the money I needed from my family and friends etc the manipulation and lies stopped too. My friends and family keep saying they’ve got the person back that they’ve missed for so many years. From speaking to others in the same or similar situation they all say how freeing it is not having to tell and remember the lies.