Drug Addiction Stories & Info

As we sat on the bus that day, the stranger next to me and I, my surroundings were not really of importance to me. I didn’t realize I was crying until she leaned over and asked me “Are you all right?” I nodded quietly. I didn’t tell this stranger that no, I really wasn’t. I didn’t tell her that all I wanted was the courage to go somewhere and quietly commit suicide. 

I had no family. Mine had died years earlier in a tornado. This time of year was always hard for me. I had gone into foster care and then into society on my own the day after my 18^th birthday. Some people like storms. I hated them with a passion. I was going back to my home town to try to have the courage to die so I could be with my family again.

The woman next to me began to talk. She told me she had an anniversary coming up that was important to her. I cringed. I did not want to hear about something good. I had an anniversary coming up to and all it was filled with was heartache. I just wanted to know how to get the guts together to do myself in so I could join my family.

She talked about work and life and being on drugs. She talked about losing friends to drugs, about losing her home because she had spent all her money on drugs. Her friends that had not died from overdoses were in the pen or she had lost touch with them once she had gotten clean after making a promise to one of them before he went to prison.  She realized she needed to just that because she had been in a tornado of her own making with her addiction.

I turned to her and asked if she knew where to get some of those drugs. I was hoping maybe I could take something and have one of those overdoses she had mentioned. But she told me I didn’t need drugs, that I was a pretty young girl and had my whole life ahead of me. I told her I didn’t.

That’s when I confessed everything to the stranger on the bus beside me. I told her about the tornado and foster care and counting the days until I was 18 so I could go back to my home town and finally be with my family by way of suicide. When she told me she was from that same home town, I was shocked. The anniversary was the same. Her only child had died at a sleepover that evening.

We talked all the way. We went to the cemetery. It was the same one for her daughter and my family. We talked for a long time. She told me how she had turned to drugs but how she had been clean for a year now. She told me suicide nor drugs were the right thing to do.

She invited me to stay with her as she was starting over also. That was two years ago. Today I am in college and she has become a true “mom” to me. Tornado season still bothers both of us but we know that we have each other. “Mom” is getting married soon and I am seeing a great guy I met here at school. “Mom” told me one time that she thinks her daughter and my family brought us back together. I think she’s right.

How did you find out about the Narconon program?
I found out about Narconon because of an overdose:  While I was in Toronto I would come home sometimes for a few weeks and then run away again and hitchhike back.   One time while I was in Toronto, I overdosed on heroin and my parents were there, which was very embarrassing.  They arrived at around 2:00am after they got a call.  They decided that they would find a solution for me – and this was Narconon.

At the time (1998) Narconon was just getting set up in Quebec Province so I was one of the first people on the program here.  At first I was scared and by the third day I wanted to go back to drugs, of course.  For the first two weeks I was staying at home while on the program, as it was not fully set up, and all I talked about during this time with friends on the phone was heroin.  That’s all I thought about and all I talked about.  My life was heroin and I still sneaking it, even though I was on the program.  I convinced people I knew from high school that it was a good thing to do, so they would do it with me.  My motivation was to have people doing it with me; people would not give me a guilt trip or try to get me off it because they were doing it too.

Did you stick with the program?
I eventually ran away back to Toronto and started panhandling and doing drugs every day.  It got so bad it even got up to twice a day.  I remember getting sick when I stopped using and thought it was just a cold or something, but of course as soon as I took drugs again all the symptoms disappeared – so then I knew what was actually happening.

I recall someone afterwards offering me cocaine, but I said “no thanks,” as I was not interested anymore. I knew then that the Narconon program is really effective.

After a couple of weeks I woke up one morning all depressed and everything hit me: what I was doing to myself, what I did to my parents by running away and so on.  Then I was overwhelmed with a lot of grief.  I called my mother but I couldn’t even talk because I had this knot in my throat.  There was my pride and at the same I felt broken from my own doing.

She told me to call the director of Narconon in Canada, who fortunately was in Toronto, and I went to see him looking and smelling like a dirty street kid.  He was really cool and very understanding of where I was coming from.  After that I was on the bus that night and in the morning when I arrived in Montreal, someone from Narconon picked me up and that was it.

So now you wanted to get off drugs?
It wasn’t so much that I wanted to get off drugs; I just didn’t know what I wanted at all.  I didn’t even think I had a problem because I was doing drugs which is what I thought I wanted (back then) and that was it.  But I was depressed and I did the program because I felt bad for my mom and dad.

Then at some point, while I was at Narconon, it turned around for me: I no longer cared about drugs – my only interest was doing the program.  The Narconon staff had a lot to do with that because of their knowledge, experience and their understanding.

I recall someone afterwards offering me cocaine, but I said “no thanks,” as I was not interested anymore.  I knew then that the Narconon drug addiction rehab really effective.

What benefits did you get from doing the Narconon program?
One big win for me occurred one day during the Detoxification program: I actually remembered my past!

Before that I had not realized that I did not really have a past or a future.  I was not in present time and I was just kind of “there.”  In the sauna, all these memories of me being a kid with my parents – all these happy memories came back.  And that was a huge win.  It was like “Oh my God, I was a kid at one point!”

Another win was being rehabilitated in other ways: I was a vegetarian before I started drugs and when I was living on the street, the more drugs I used the less I cared about my health or what I was eating.  Free food was free food and I would eat whatever.  While I was on the program I started caring again about what I was eating.

I also remembered that I was an environmentalist (as well as a vegetarian) and that I cared about all these things.  I would then go through Narconon to make sure that the recycling was properly separated from the garbage; I would ensure that I was eating healthy again and so much more.  I actually cared once more!  And this included wanting to help people – and this was because of the Narconon drug rehab program.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Drug addiction affects families of all incomes, sizes, races and religions.

The sad truth is that one in every four families is likely to find out that someone they love has a drug addiction.  It has reached epidemic proportions and there is virtually no one who is immune to it.  It affects families of all incomes, sizes, races and religions.  Drug addiction rehab reports that while many are getting the help needed, there are also many who are not.

It is common for someone with a drug addiction to tell themselves that they can stop anytime.  They also tell their loved ones that.  It usually is not true, however.  They may be able to stop for a short period of time, but then it starts all over again.  If someone you love has a drug addiction, the best course of action you can take is to stay positive but confront them and let them know in no uncertain terms that you will not be a part of the charade any longer.  There is no need for a shouting match; simply give them the facts.  Staying upbeat and positive is the best thing you can do.

Often, it is the loved one and not the one who needs drug addiction rehab that makes the first move.  Intervention is becoming quite common now.  Drug addictions are ruining not only families but communities.  More and more young people are becoming addicted.  Drug addiction rehab now teaches us that we should intervene.  We should not look the other way and we should never cover up for the drug addict.  It is often the family member who initiates getting help.

Depending on the drug of choice, addiction can escalate very quickly.  What starts out as a recreational event turns into a life goal.  Nothing becomes more important than getting that drug.  If possible, it is best to stop the addiction before it gets to that point but if that is not possible, try to stop it as soon as you can.  Seek the help of a drug addiction rehab if you are unsure what to do next.  There are steps that are normally successful in helping you get your loved one the help they need for their drug addiction.

Drug addiction is affecting far too many families.  Unless someone acts, the family unit deteriorates and the worse case scenario is that the drug addict over doses.  If you suspect a loved one has a drug addiction, act fast.  Seek help and don’t give up.  There is a chance for a happier life ahead.

For assistance, contact a professional drug rehab consultant at Narconon: 1-877-782-7409.