Drug Addiction Stories

Drug Addiction Stories

Accidental, but not uncommon

Actor Brad Renfro’s fatal overdose is a sad reminder that heroin use can lead to devastating consequences.

It’s an even sadder reminder that no matter how much money and resources are pumped into drug education programs, the message still doesn’t get out. It’s not like this is a new phenomenon. There are many drug addiction stories involving heroin and fame.

Renfro, who died on January 15, was only 25. Most young users seek the “rush” that the drug gives. People who use heroin regularly develop a tolerance to it and that leads to abuse. Abusers need more and more heroin to get the same “rush” and as the amount of heroin needed grows, the dependence on the drug takes hold. Addicts need the drug because their bodies have become used to the drug being present, as if it were supposed to be there in order for everything to function. The body can become fooled into thinking it “needs” the heroin. That is what leads to overdose.

We know about this young man’s death because he was famous, a child film star. But there are thousands whom we do not know, kids who have run away from home, or are looking for a thrill. Young people have that feeling of invincibility, with no real awareness of their own mortality. “It won’t happen to me.” Hospital emergency rooms deal with heroin every day. It does happen to you.

The Los Angeles coroner’s office said there was no foul play, but there was. The illegal manufacturing, distribution and sale of heroin is foul play. Heroin is highly addictive, and even with court-ordered drug rehabilitation in 2006, and three years of probation, the lure of the drug was too powerful for Renfro to resist.

Knowing the addictive and potentially deadly nature of heroin may not be enough to keep a young person from trying it for the first time. Perhaps Renfro was exposed to the D.A.R.E. Program (drug addiction resistance education), or something similar when he was in school. Entertainment icons like Janis Joplin came to an untimely end because of heroin. It’s been around. It’s nothing new. Yet the message is lost on some people.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction please enroll in a local drug addiction recovery program before it’s too late and the drug takes control! Drug addiction stories involving heroin generally have bad endings!

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20 years of hell!

by Maggie

from Ohio-USA

I met him over 20 years ago. He was 33 and I was 23. We lived
together for 1 and 1/2 years before marriage. Only one thing happened
during our living together. And I forgave that. So we married.

5
months into the marriage he doesn’t come home from work. Instead he’s
driving up & down the road in front of our house for hours. I had no
idea what to think about this. Or what to do. So I sat and watched it
for hours.

When he finally pulls in the driveway I ask him what
the heck are you doing? He becomes violent and belligerent. Soon
afterwords, telling me it was all my fault.

He admits to using
crack cocaine and a bottle of alcohol. I became very confused. I grew up
in the era where the saying was “Crack Is Whack.” It was then he told
me that he was a convicted felon for cocaine. And had been in prison a
year before he met me. I was shocked.

It didn’t take him long to
coax me into trying the drug. It made me very very sick. I didn’t
realize it, but I became addicted. I craved it often. And that lead to
wanting it a lot more than just weekends. That lead to 4 days a week
then 5. Soon it was constant daily.

He had a good job. Or I
should say several jobs because he missed a lot of work. But he was in
high demand. I was a stay at home wife. Well if you can consider that a
wife. We had a nice home, pets, nice furniture and things. And I would
call him off work whenever he needed it.

However that all
changed. I was so messed up I never realized how much he was lying and
how the abuse towards me was escalating out of control. A sobering event
happened.

He overdosed on Cocaine. I thought he as going to
die. Laying in the hospital, hooked up to every machine imaginable. In a
drug induced coma. I made a promise to myself, I was going to do
whatever it took to stop. And I did.

It
took 2 years of AA, Group meetings at a church and then abuse group
meetings. All the while I slept on the couch and watched as he continued
to use hardcore. Combining the crack with loads of alcohol and then to
level that he used percocettes. And I felt so alone.

He didn’t
care what I was going through. He was high all the time. I eventually
left. I took 3 duffel bags of clothes and walked out. I am now 1 month
away from divorce. After 10 long months. And he failed a court ordered
hair drug test: * POSITIVE FOR COCAINE *.

He continues to say he
doesn’t have a drug problem and refuses any help. He texts me
constantly and tells me he would do anything for me. All I have to say
is “Anything would be nothing but REAL HELP”. Real help will never come
for him as long as he continues to say there is no drug problem.

I
don’t trust people much anymore. I am learning A LOT. And perhaps one
day I will meet the right person and I’ll make sure I run a background
check on them.

If you are me, I suggest you surround yourself
with lots of positive people. Get into AA, go to group meetings. Journal
and by all means if it’s abusive like mine was.. There is NO excuse. It
won’t get better. And if it does it won’t be for long.

As long
as you are with them. As long as your choice is drugs. And life is all
about choices. As long as you are making bad choices you will only get
bad results.

Drugs are a temporary fix for a long term issue. Do
yourself a favor and just reach out. Tell anyone who will listen. It
may not work at first or it might. You will never know unless you try.

YOU are worth a lot more than you could ever imagine. YOU ARE WORTH HAPPINESS!! And HAPPINESS IS A REWARD!

In Denial

by: Ned Wicker

Dear Maggie,

Denial is the most powerful word in
dictionary when it comes to the single greatest obstacle to substance
use disorder treatment and recovery.

The terrible unintended
consequence of your husband’s poor choices is a diseased brain that
cannot, or will not accept any measure of responsibility for his
actions, regardless of the consequences. He is really not capable of
rational thought, because the disease has taken over his life.

You
are one of the fortunate ones who has seen the damage of the disease
and has allowed help to come into your life and lift you out of the
gutter.

The physical damage to the person is obvious, as is the
personal and financial ruin the disease brings, but so often lost in
the shuffle is the spiritual aspect of the disorder, which robs us of
our humanity and our ability to connect with others on a meaningful
level. You saw your situation, took action and you are on the right
path.

It is interesting that he still maintains his affection
for you, yet refuses to allow anything in the way of getting clean.
Failing a court-ordered drug test is just bad news, but it shows you haw
his mind works.

Perhaps he thought he could cheat it, or worst
yet, he may not have cared at all to even attempt to pass it. His
disease is more important to him at this point than you are. Substance
Use Disorder is looked at a lot like other forms of mental illness.

If
I am a legal adult, even though I am diagnosed with a brain disorder, I
can refuse treatment. A person has a diseased brain that does not
function properly, yet he has the full rights of someone who does not
have that impairment. How is that considered making a rational,
informed decision?

I hope, for his sake, that he someday
allows the truth to filter through the haze. He will look back and
maybe realize that you, Maggie, are a special person and worthy of
praise for your heart and determination.