Pubdate: Sun, 07 Aug 2005
Source: Northwest Herald (IL)
Section: Style
Copyright: 2005 Northwest Herald Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.nwherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2762
Author: Rick Atwater
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

DRUGS TAKE TOLL EARLY

I talked recently with a guy I'll call Barry.

Barry is 25 years old, is married with two little kids, is an alcoholic a 
and cocaine addict and has had two heart attacks. He is trying, at this 
point, to stay clean and sober and is on a waiting list to get into a 
funded treatment program. He has been waiting four weeks now and has 
managed to stay straight. This is the longest period of being straight, he 
says, since he was 13.

I guess you know by now, from your own observations or from reading my 
column, there are as many types of addicts with as many types of stories as 
there are people to tell them. Barry's is worth telling because of the 
miraculous nature of his recovery, the timing and perhaps the severity of 
his illness.

Barry's family was wealthy, business-oriented and neglectful. Barry was 
left to his own devices from the age of 10. He started periodic pot use at 
this time and had graduated to cocaine by 13. He was a big kid and looked 
older, so he traveled with an older, faster crowd and by high school was 
selling both pot and cocaine. He was meeting people who had lots of money 
(something he was used to) and people who had little regard for others, 
laws or themselves. By 15 he was freebasing (smoking) cocaine and drinking 
regularly.

At 15, his girlfriend moved into his house. His parents handled this by 
ignoring its existence as they did with most things that Barry did. Barry 
recalls one thing his dad would do was buy him beer, take him drinking and 
look the other way when he got high. Barry says he knew that his father 
knew he was a drug addict.

At 19 he started his own business and with his good business sense and 
sales abilities he built a success; so much so that his employees carried 
the workload and Barry spent his time in the bar most days and smoking coke 
as well. The drug bills mounted, the business went bankrupt, the girlfriend 
was threatening to leave and Barry overdosed on coke and had his first 
heart attack at age 20. This was not enough to stop him, and two more years 
of regular cocaine use resulted in a second overdose and three days in 
cardiac ICU.

For some reason, never having thought seriously about recovery before, 
Barry decided he desperately needed help and on a night about three weeks 
ago, without even really knowing what he was doing, walked into an AA 
meeting at a local hospital.

He told me he hasn't looked forward to seeing his kids and being with his 
family this much in years.
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MAP posted-by: Beth