Homeless Felon to Prison Counselor: How Did He Turn His Life Around? | Louis E. - Part 2

Louis Essig grew up in an idyllic "white picket fence" community in Columbus, Ohio, with a loving family and every opportunity. He was a D.A.R.E. kid who believed drugs would immediately ruin his life. But a desire to fit in led him to try alcohol and marijuana in high school, and he discovered the "missing piece" that made him feel cool and accepted. What started as weekend partying quickly escalated into a daily habit and a lucrative drug-dealing business that fed his ego and his addiction.

This episode traces Louis's devastating spiral from OxyContin to heroin, which he first used while sick and desperate at his fast-food job. He details the heartbreaking dynamic of using drugs with his alcoholic mother, who later died of an overdose. Louis shares the chilling moment when a recovering addict warned him that legal trouble would come, a pr ...