Drug Addiction Stories

I had forgotten this feeling. One of freedom and euphoria without drugs. A feeling of remembering every part of the day and evening without blackouts associated with it. My experience with drugs is parallel to the ups and downs of Mother Nature.

I had been a pretty normal teenager. Stayed out of trouble, decent grades in high school and enjoying extra curricular activities such as sports and drama club. Then I got into the college of my dreams but at the same time, my dad died. Suddenly I was facing financial problems because my mom was barely getting by with two more kids left at home. There was no life insurance, my dad worked at a factory.

I worked two jobs and went to school. Then one night I took off and went to a party with a friend from Theater class. That was the night I tried heroin for the first time and the night I my life changed for the second time.

Life during that time was like Mother Nature: storm warnings, dark clouds, volcano eruptions. I was missing class and missing work but barely made it through my freshman year with Cs and Ds. Over the summer, my mother caught the changes and went Hurricane Mom on me. She told me that she was not going to let me throw my life away and that I owed it to myself and to the memory of my dad to get help. She got me into drug rehab.

The treatment program was a God send. The counseling not only helped me work out the tools I needed to get clean but it also helped me with the grief I still felt over my dad dying. I spent most of the summer in the program and after talking to my mom, decided to finish college locally so I could live at home and have my family’s support.

I am a junior now. My sophomore year was a lot easier. Sure, it would have been nice to stay at the college that had been my first choice but in the end, I know that being with Mom and my brother and sister is best for now. My mom and I have long talks and she is my best friend.

These days I feel like someone who has been released. I still miss my dad but I know that he is up there somewhere watching over me. My dad loved the ocean and when I walk along the coastline not too far from our home, I know he is out there watching over me, my mom and my brother and sister. I feel the calm presence of the sea and I remember the times my dad used to run along the shoreline and we would along behind him. I love being drug free again and feeling those old feelings and memories.

I had it all. I was at the college of my dreams on a football scholarship. I had the girls falling all over themselves to be with me and the coach and my dad said pro scouts were taking notes. I had it all. Then I got a bad case of the flu and I just could not shake it no matter what. So one of my teammates told me to see a doctor friend of his and the guy put me on steroids. There was no problem of getting hooked because steroids are not physically addictive 

Wrong. As I got back to the way I felt and played and surpassed it, I found myself needing the steroids more and more. If I went without them, I got paranoid and worried about my game. I needed them. There was no question.

When my coach found out, I got benched. One day he called me into his office and my parents and my favorite professor as well as my best friend and girlfriend were all there. They told me that they knew steroids could help some people but that they could also ruin lives. The coach and my dad told me I was a good player. My professor told me I was bright and had many options even if football didn’t pan out professionally but that I should not risk all of my chances by being on steroids.

They worked with me. They even got me a counselor who helped me understand that yes, there can be a psychological addiction and that was what happened to me. The more he worked with me, the more he and the support group he set me up with talked to me, the more I understood that I had gotten in over my head and out of control regarding the steroids.

My family, my coach, my professor, my best friend and my girlfriend stood behind me and supported me as well. After making sure I was clean with random testing that happened often, I was able to play again. I signed a deal after college and I was on my way.

That was several years back. When I hear of another player losing it all over steroids, I pick up the phone and call four people while the beautiful college girlfriend who is now my wife holds my hand. I tell my best friend thank you and congratulate him on the success he has found in his own chosen field as a counselor. I tell my old professor thanks as I tell him that I think that degree is going to come in handy as I get set to retire soon. I call my old coach and thank him for being a coach who cared more about his players than the game, because to him that was the secret of a successful team. As always, I tell my parents thank you. My dad and my coach are my heroes. The fact that I am here today speaks to the truth of that statement.

I dimly remember that party.  I was a freshman at college and the other girls invited me to a party that would have all these “gorgeous guys”.  I was a bit nervous and whenever a guy would come up and talk to me, I stuttered and embarrassed myself.  Then suddenly he was right in front of me.  He had the darkest, most beautiful eyes I had ever seen and as he leaned in and whispered to me, I was a goner.  He almost immediately had my heart.  I did not realize he was taking my future as well.

He saw right through my nervousness and told me he had something that would help me get over it.  He said he had been the same way a couple of years ago, starting college after growing up in a small, secluded town.  I gave him my heart.  He gave me an addiction to heroin.

My girlfriends tried to talk me out of seeing him.  Apparently he was the local college dealer and I was putty in his hands.  When I went home for Thanksgiving, I barely got through those four days.  I kept calling him but he would not answer.  When he finally did, he seemed put off by my concern and let me know that he would not be checked on.  I did not remind him that he did the same to me at college.  I was just grateful I could hear his voice.

During Christmas break, he sent me home with enough heroin to get through the holidays. However, I will never forget walking into my room and seeing my parents, my brother and my younger sister waiting there.  My father was holding the heroin.  They asked me where I had gotten it but apparently they already knew, as my best friend told them it was why we had drifted apart during that first semester.

I was put into a drug addiction rehab immediately.  Fortunately this rehab center had no waiting list.  Because of my parents and a successful drug rehab, I was able to get clean earlier than a lot of heroin addicts and the following year started at my local community college.

I dimly remember that party but I will never forget what it did to me.  I am just happy I was given a second chance and able to rebuild my life before too much damage was done.  The horror stories I heard from other addicts also made me realize how lucky I was that my parents found out and I was able to get help earlier than most.