You wrote:    I did not lie , steal or cheat ... I worked to support my habits. 

  I used over half my life time .   and it didn't take me half a life time to recovery .  

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.....I was a functional addict too for half of my life.  I never stole ANYTHING, nor did I ever cheat.  I NEVER lied to my husband or my family about my drug use, but I did lie to my coworkers about it.  I never had any run ins with the law, and I never ran around with bad people.  The only meth person in my life for more than 20 years was my dealer, who was also my best friend.  I always donated things to worthy causes, and helped others whenever I could.  To the outside world my life seemed normal and fine.  I had the house, the cars, and all of the nice things that I could ever want, and then some.  Was I happy.  Of course not, I was an addict. That does not make me any better then any other addict because I never hit bottom, it just means that I was more functional then most, and that I am thankful for.  I used for 27 years, and I have been clean for 8 years, and I am just starting to enjoy life again.  It won't take me half my life to recover, but it did take me many more years then I would have liked.  I am still trying to find myself after 8 years of being clean. Am I the same person that I was before meth?  Not even close.  Carol