Celebrating 51 Years Sober!
I was born and raised in Santa Monica, California. I remember being a happy kid.
My father died when I was young, leaving my mother alone to raise my brother and me. Losing my father really affected me and played a big part in why I ended up turning to drugs and alcohol.
I began drinking alcohol around age 13 because I wanted to have a “good time” with my friends. As I began experimenting with drugs, I lost the friends I had and began hanging out with people who used harder drugs. I started smoking marijuana, then I began taking pills. By age 16, I was using heroin intravenously. I began doing things in exchange for drugs. Heroin had become the only thing I cared about. During my addiction, I went to jail three times. I would promise to stop every time, but I never could, I was completely out of control.
I made the decision to get help after an overdose. I woke up to emergency responders resuscitating me. I will never be able to forget the look on my mother’s face. That’s when I decided to get help. A family member saw a commercial for Narconon on television, so in 1972, I went to Narconon. When I arrived, I knew right away that this program was different. I could sense it. I knew the staff cared. I immediately knew I was going to make it. That was the big difference. I looked forward to working with the staff, they were so helpful. In prior programs, I had shut down because I knew it wasn’t going to work. I was actually the first female student to graduate from Narconon in the US!
The Narconon program taught me how to be in control of myself and my life. I regained self-confidence and the ability to confront and deal with life without feeling like I needed to turn to drugs and alcohol. I recovered the ability to create my own life. Once I had freedom from drug and alcohol abuse, life became so much better without it. Graduating from the program was my biggest achievement thus far. I felt like I had graduated from a school of knowledge because now I had the tools to help me live life.
After graduating from the program, I made it my mission to help others like me. I had seen so many lose their lives to drugs because of the lack of treatment. I began to work with Narconon and did so for the majority of my working life. I have seen it transform and change people’s lives and the lives of their families. I know without a shadow of a doubt that this program saves lives. My proudest accomplishment is taking thousands off of drugs through the years and helping people with the Narconon program. We have been going strong for almost 60 years now. Narconon uses a different approach to help those struggling with addiction. I knew if the program could help me, it could help anyone, as I was hopeless before I found the program.
I now have three grown children and four grandchildren.
“The sky is the limit once you free yourself from addiction. There is no limit on your personal abilities so continue to create your life drug-free. You can achieve anything you want!”
My advice to those still struggling with addiction is to get help now. The sky is the limit once you free yourself from addiction. There is no limit on your personal abilities, so continue to create your life drug-free. You can achieve anything you want!
Narconon Graduate, J.T.
