“We all started with pills. I don’t know anyone who started using heroin directly. When I was younger, all of my friends were doing pills. Now four of us are in recovery and there’s another seven people who are dead.”
“In May of 2016, my dad overdosed on heroin. He was a helpful, caring person, a human being who lived a life that was whole. I know he would want me to tell his story, to get the information out there for other people.”
“I went through my whole life saying “I’ll never use heroin, I’ll never use a needle.” It never crossed my mind and then — over time, with a lot of exposure to pain pills — I just got comfortable with the whole idea.”
“There are bad behaviors associated with addiction. Those behaviors have created the stigma that makes it harder to get help, even from health professionals that are supposed to be helping. I think it’s a real problem.”
“There was a lot of drinking in my childhood. There was violence and I didn’t know it at the time, but later I found out there was sexual abuse. I was the youngest. My dad would beat my brothers. Everyone was drinking.
“I started using alcohol at the age of 11 because it was in the house. As I progressed through high school, I drank. It was definitely binge drinking. It wasn’t until I got to college that I started experimenting with drugs.”