Drug Addiction Stories & Info

The day he found me in an alley is one I barely remember. I could hear a voice, vaguely make out a face yet I could not tell you what he said that day to save my life. Which is ironic because that is just what he did. 

I was later in a part of the jail block that kept me under medical supervision. I was coming down off of my latest high and could not tell you what day it was. I had not spoken to my family in ages. I was only 19 and I was a heroin addict. My family had enough of all the drama and had frankly told me not to come back unless I was clean.

When the officer approached me, I figured it was with the evening meal or something just as common with jail house rules and all. He asked if I remembered him. I looked at his face and shrugged no.

“I was the one who found you in the alley four days ago. You were pretty messed up, Son.”

I had some heroin in my pocket and because of that they were holding me. The officer had ran my background and was pleasantly surprised that even though I was an addict, I had not committed any crimes aside from that. It had been my first offense.

He came to see me every day and we talked more and more after I got over my initial wariness. When I was called before the judge after my detox, I was asked where I intended to go and told I would be court-ordered to attend rehab. Then a voice from the back asked “May I approach the court, Your Honor?”

I turned and it was the police officer who had found me and arrested me. He came forward and said he would like to take responsibility for me if I could be released to him. He would take me directly to rehab and assured the court that I would meet its requirements. The judge asked “Are you sure you want to do this, Officer Malone?” He said yes.

Officer Malone drove me to rehab. He visited me and when I got out he took me to his home and showed me the guest room. Then he helped me get a job in a sporting goods store at the mall. I stayed clean and on my birthday, I received a call from my parents. They said Officer Malone had kept them current on my whereabouts and condition. I told them I wanted to stay in Colorado and did not want to return to New Mexico and they understood.

After I got off the phone, I asked Officer Malone why he had gone to so much trouble for a drug addict. He pointed to a picture of two young teen boys. “That’s me and my brother. He got messed up on drugs while in high school and overdosed. You look a lot like him and by helping you, I felt like I was doing what I did not have the power to do back then for him.”

My life turned around that day in the alley because of Officer Malone. I am now in college and was recently made assistant manager of the sporting goods store. Passing out in that alley was the best thing that could have happened.