Would you pay off a family members drug debt?

It's easy to say.... "if it was my kid....." but when someone is threatening to put windows in and burn cars and so on, I'm pretty sure I would take from my own granny (give her a kiss and promise to pay back ASAP! ) and pay them off and cross my fingers and toes that's the end of them.

That being said, if my child was under 18 and racked up a €2,000 drug debt, you would bet I would have him locked and chained to his bedroom until of legal age and then tell him right off you f**k and get a job to pay for your habits.

My family aren't anti drugs in the sense that somewhere down the line they've had a puff here and there to try it out but between my Mam and Grandparents, all they have to do is smell weed and they vomit. They physically can't stand the smell let alone sit there and have a full joint in peace. They don't condone it either and it's an each to their own deal but would rather no one was into drugs. My cousin (2nd cousin?) is a massive herion addict and her parents were hard and honest workers, gave her the best of the best, went to private school, the lot and she still somehow managed to land herself in prison more times than I've had hot dinners. Me, I was brought up in a area where my Mam was told was a walking advertisement for kids to get hooked and stand around the corner with the wrong crowd. She was lucky I was such an introvert that if someone so much as said Hello to me, I would run home crying. I was such an absolute whimp. Then I was in my early 20s at a house party (of course) tried weed and puked for Ireland so safe to say I wasn't going to try it again.

I don't believe 100% that it's down to parantage although looking at some backgrounds and how parents can either allow their child do what they want or turn a blind eye, it can be down to how it's dealt with. My "father" although a gambler and I'm sure more than that, I was never brought up around him to experience the effects it has so I was never really under the influence of "well if dad does it then I can do it" but that doesn't mean it could have potentially had an effect and I picked up the habit anyways. I don't like pin pointing and saying "it's the area someone was brought up in" as we can hear of stories of people brought up in areas that are truly disastrous and have made a life for themselves. I moved out of the area I was brought up in, got a full time job, my Mam went to college, had a full time job and is mortage free soon. Honestly, it's not as much as the area in my case but the way I was brought up.

I honestly belive its down to the person, attitude and their views of upbringing. 70% can be the fault of the parent as in the kid was brought up around it and that's all they know and see but the encouragement needs to be there to show yes okay we smoke but that's not the life you have to have.

Again, easy for me to say when I spend more time watching sh*te on Netflix and drink tea but I know myself that my kids will have the exact same love, upbringing, education and encouragement I was given but I can't predict their attitudes towards drugs BUT I will make it clear that under 18, under the same roof, it won't be tolerated and I so much as hear that they owe money or someone wants to threathen, I would drag them to the Guards myself and make them sit there and tell them exactly what they've done and who threatening. Once they hit 18 and they have the mental capibility to know that I won't be picking up their slack or feeding their habits, they can either get a job and pay for their own habits or they can go somewhere else. I've seen family members tell their child to leave if they thought for one minute that any form of drugs was going to enter their front door and lo and behold, kids have either gone to college or got jobs. What they do in that time is their own responsibility but they know that they won't be landing their troubles on their own front door.

I've a BIL who smokes weed like it's cigerettes in a packet and doesn't know the value that €50 doesn't mean smoke it all in one day and then run back to his dad and ask for more. Although FIL is an enabler and happily sits there and encourages it. My partner and BIL have had the same exact upbringing, events and lack of encouragement in their lives, my partner knew from an early age he wasn't going to live the life his parents taught was normal and let their kids do literally whatever they wanted and he went to college, got a job and his now nearly there for a deposit on a house while his brother, on the other side of 25, can't hold down a job and still sponges off not only people but the social as well.

My point is (I will admit I could have said the first time) is no two people are the same with different or same backgrounds. You can blame the parent, the area, the upbringing, the attitudes etc but I genuinely think its the outlook and the person themselves. A kid with a €2,000 drug debt says to me that they genuinely don't have any fears of the consequences and will happily put their lives and families life's at risk for 1 minute of euphoria. That being said, the dealers who genuinely think a 14 year old asking for a €50 bag and will pay the following day or week, is either clever or just plain stupid.

Why would they encourage kids to do drugs? Yes I understand its money in their eyes but seriously, you're going to threaten a 14 year old for €2,000 when I'm sure they could make that €2,000 in 5 minutes selling to someone who has a clue? It can't just be me who thinks the dealers are as much as the blame too?