Narconon Gave Me My Life Back

 

Before Narconon, I lost everything to my addiction. Despite my loving parents and idyllic childhood by the time I was 20 years old, I had a growing addiction to cocaine and opiates. Looking back I realize my parents had little to do with my addiction. I was a happy, talkative and inquisitive kid and my parent's had their hands full raising me. I did well through high school and graduated near the top of my class. However, when I went to college I began experimenting with drugs almost immediately. Within the first 5 days of being on campus, I was probably offered 7 different types of drugs from weed to ecstasy to Xanax and everything else in between. Despite my parent's best intentions, I was ill prepared to deal with the sheer number of mind-altering substances being offered.

The first time I tried cocaine, I was at a formal event for my fraternity. While getting ready in the hotel room, my date pulled out a small bag of coke. She sat at a table and set out a line for her and myself. She asked me if I wanted some and without a second thought, without thinking of all the lessons I had been taught about drugs, without considering the dangers and possible I consequences, I grabbed the rolled up bill in her hand and snorted that line and at that very moment, I severely altered the course of my life.

I immediately knew I was addicted. All of my self-esteem issues disappeared and my low self-confidence went away. I finally felt good. I was talkative and social and wondered where this drug had been all my life. I had found the answer to all my problems, so I thought.

The next day I went out and bought an 8-ball (1/8 of an ounce of cocaine) and finished it within hours. I found myself completely out-of-control fairly quickly and my life spiraled out of control. I was stealing, lying, ripping people off, and doing a slew of other things I said I’d never do. I finished college and went back home to Massachusetts to run away from the debts I owed, the relationships I had ruined and the wreckage I caused. I stayed clean for maybe 3 weeks until I started using again. Someone I used to get high with taught me about Oxy’s, heroin and how to smoke crack, so I became a crackhead and an IV heroin addict. That friend of mine is now dead, by the way.

Three months later I had committed countless crimes, including being caught for credit card fraud and I wound up in the first of many rehabs. I bounced from rehab to rehab only to relapse within hours of being discharged. I went to 6 different treatment centers in a little over 2 years. Nothing worked. Not the 12-steps, not the shamanic journeys through my third eye, and definitely not the wilderness programs.

I eventually found myself completely relapsed in a crack-hotel being held hostage by a bunch of dealers. I owed them a bunch of money and they wouldn’t let me leave. They had taken everything from me. I somehow found a phone and called my parents who had just returned from a vacation. Nice welcome home. I told them I wanted help. To this day I don’t know how I escaped from this situation, but somehow, I did. My parents bought me a one-way plane ticket and told me they had found a non-12 step treatment center and if I didn’t make it work, never to call them again.

I’ll never forget that Narconon is the first place
where a counselor looked me in the eye and said:
“You’re going to be okay. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

I arrived at Narconon in the dirty clothes I was wearing, lips burned from a crack pipe and track marks everywhere. I was beaten down and ready for change. I’ll never forget that Narconon is the first place where a counselor looked me in the eye and said, “You’re going to be okay. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

I got through the drug-free withdrawal which I had been dreading, but it was the easiest withdrawal I had ever had and there was always someone there to help me with the physical and emotional discomfort. When I say the sauna detoxification changed me forever, I mean it. Within 2 weeks in the sauna, all of my cravings for drugs completely went away. I wasn’t thinking about them, dreaming about them, or talking about them. I NEVER thought that was possible. I had been a craving-driven addict. The main reason I could not stop useing after I started was because my cravings were so bad. And just like that, they were gone. I had both my mind and my power of choice back. The me I had lost many years before, I found again. Doing the Objectives was amazing. I always felt like I was being controlled by life, instead of me controlling it. I always felt like a victim of circumstance and that things were always happening to me. I learned that I control my life and I’m the captain of this ship.

After the life skills courses and counseling, I had a confidence that I’ve never had before. I felt good about myself for the first time in my life. I felt like I could accomplish anything and was on top of the world.

Narconon gave me my life back. Most people thought I would die before I ever got sober. Other rehabs I had been to told me I was a “throw away client” and told my parents to not expect much from me. And here I am. Years later with a life beyond my wildest dreams.

I have Narconon to thank for that.

Jason—Narconon Graduate