CHURCH'S DRUG-ABUSE FORUM HEARS ADDICTION TALES

About 200 people gathered at St. Joseph on the Rio Grande Catholic Church
on Sunday and listened to tearful stories from former drug abusers and
their families about coping with addiction and how they turned their lives
around.

The forum was the second of four called by Archbishop Michael Sheehan
throughout the Archdiocese of Santa Fe examining the church's role in
addressing drug and alcohol addiction.

The Rev. Ron Stone, of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Rio Rancho, stood
before the crowd and a panel of community leaders and said he was
introduced to cocaine when he was 22. He said he didn't really feel the
effects the first or the second time.

"I was addicted by the third time, I couldn't believe it," he said. "I
began a ride through hell that took 13 years to overcome."

Stone said he didn't like marijuana, pills or heroin — just cocaine. He
said he was a binge user, meaning he would use the drug until he passed out.

Stone said cocaine addicts lose sense of their moral values. They have no
friends, he said, only acquaintances.

"It's an absolute miserable, miserable life," he said.

Stone said one day, after his body was purple and blue from abuse and not
eating, he got down on his knees and planned to overdose on cocaine.

But, he said he heard God say, "My child, I love you, I am here, I will
help you."

Stone said that experience changed his life. He described himself as one of
the happiest people on Earth and said he has been clean for 13 years.

During an intermission, he said he welcomes those who might want his advice.

"Addicts want to talk to people who have gone through it," he said.

Paul Acosta, 36, of Albuquerque, told the crowd that when he was addicted
to drugs and alcohol, he held up 32 convenient stores in Albuquerque before
getting arrested at his parents' house and thrown in jail.

Jail is where he discovered his faith.

"After 24 hours of being there and reading the label on my shoe over and
over because I had nothing to do, I picked up a Bible and read it for the
first time," Acosta said.

Acosta said he is now drug-free and enjoys helping people.

"I'm glad I spent 52 days in jail," he said. "I'm glad I was arrested and
humbled."

Acosta counsels inmates with a prison ministry group and said people should
try to understand what addicts are going through.

Sara Stuckey, a drug abuse counselor in Albuquerque, said forums are good
for communication, but that people need to keep in mind that addicts become
physically dependent on drugs.

She told the audience that they could become addicts if someone decided to
contain them and pump them full of drugs for 30 days.

She said although the nationwide number of youths using drugs has
decreased, she has noticed that the age of first-time users is decreasing.

These days, she said, people walk in her office saying, "The first time I
used marijuana, I was 8."

One 15-year-old who attended the forum said during an intermission that he
was recently arrested under the influence of drugs. He said he used to use
crank, marijuana and alcohol.

He said he has been sober for 10 months and no longer speaks with old friends.

He is finding support through his family and the church community, he said,
and hopes to get through his abuse.