My Story of Drug Addiction

When I took my first hit of marijuana, I never even dreamt that it would lead me down a path of self-destruction that was to last me seven years.1

It all started one night when I saw my father smoking marijuana, so I asked him what he was doing. He asked me if I wanted to smoke with him and I decided to. Not too long after, I started to use not only marijuana, but I was also using meth, cocaine, acid, and prescription drugs such as vicodin, and valium.  2

A few months later, my drug using got to the point to where I needed meth or cocaine to wake up and function at school, marijuana to help me relax at home, and more marijuana to help me sleep; marijuana to make me hungry and meth or cocaine to make my appitite decrease. I was also having sex with and stripping for thirty year old men to get money or drugs.3

When my mother, father and I moved to Tennesee, I started using alcohol to the point of not remembering a thing the next morning. I was no longer using the other drugs because I trusted nobody in Tennesee. Mcminnville was notorious for meth. I went from being 5'0 and 80 pounds to 5'2 and 145 because I was not using. At this point, I was twelve years old.4

About five months later, my mother met a guy on the internet that lived in California. One thing led to another and my mother and I left my father because he was being abusive to both of us. Eventually I found out that Dave, my mother's new boyfriend was using meth and marijuana more than I did. Dave was really nice except for when he was drunk. At school, everybody thought I was the little innocent girl. In June of 2001, my mother, Dave, and I went to Catalina Island. We wound up staying there for two months. During this time, I was clean. After returning to the mainland, I started using marijuana, soma, halcyon, and vicodin along with alcohol.5

In January of 2002, I went into a foster home in Pacoima. I was in eighth grade at this time. I once again started using meth again. I went from 160 to 128 in three months. I stopped using meth in April of 2002.6

August of 2002, I started using marijuana and alcohol again. In January of 2003, I used meth for four months nearly every day. April of 2004, I was placed in foster care again. I used marijuana, valium, zanax, vicodin, and alcohol.7

Yesterday, I stopped by a treatment center to get information on the youth outpatient clinic because I need to better myself and because I do not want to risk losing my little brothers' and sisters' love and trust all for drugs and alcohol.8