I never thought my story was worth telling. My addiction didn’t start with anything dramatic — just dabbling, partying, trying to fit in, trying to escape feelings I didn’t understand. I thought I was alone; I was different. The only one like me. I had plenty of chances to walk away, but I kept numbing myself and building an identity in the drug world. Before I knew it, I was addicted — trapped in an underground life that pulled me further from reality. What I thought I wanted became the very thing destroying me.

I grew up bullied, never fitting in, so when the darkness accepted me, I embraced it. That’s when it got truly evil. I wasn’t the sweet kid my family raised anymore. I was hardened, angry, spiritually controlled by the life I chose. For almost 20 years, I lived in a battle of good versus evil, light versus darkness. These drugs do ...