Series: Meth: Shattering Lives In Northern Nevada

A three-month Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found that
methamphetamine's grip on the Truckee Meadows has become a stranglehold.

'NIGHT AND DAY'

Eric Maki was working at a Reno fast food restaurant when suddenly,
in the middle of his shift, something went wrong.

Tears began to stream down his face.

"I realized I had no car, I was in my 30s and I was flipping burgers
at Wendy's," said Maki, now 38 and methamphetamine-free for the past
three years. "A co-worker told me I needed to take a break. So I sat
there eating chicken nuggets wondering what I was doing with my life."

Maki, who has an extensive criminal record, sobered up while
completing the Washoe County Adult Drug Court program. He was given
the drug court opportunity in 2003 following his arrest for another
felony, burglary, after he tried to steal wrenches from a store to
trade for meth.

"I spent close to a decade in jail or prison all because of meth," he
said. "I decided enough was enough. I found God. I was tired of
raising my hand and saying I was an addict. I didn't want to do it anymore."

Maki said the drug court program was instrumental in his sobriety.

"Drug court was good timing for me," he said. "I liked court day and
talking to the judge. They bend over backwards if you show motivation."

Maki said the program made him accountable for his actions.

"I knew if I tested dirty, I'd be going to jail," he said.

And Maki has spent a lot of time behind bars.

At 20, he was arrested in Reno for selling $800 worth of Epsom salts
that he claimed was drugs.

After spending three years in prison that "should have been a wake-up
call" he was arrested again in 1995 for selling a gun for meth. He
would go back to prison until 1998.

"I've been arrested 30 times and have six felonies," he said. "It's
all because of meth. Meth cost me cars, material things and my
dignity. Meth is wicked and strips you of everything and all your
relationships.

"I had to cut loose my friends and I almost lost my son," he said.
"My life was night and day compared to now."

Now, Maki is a respectable husband and father, runs his own painting
business, is working toward a contracting license and runs recovery
meetings to inspire others to quit drugs.

"People on meth won't change because they don't see it when they are
wrapped up in it," he said. "They need clean time to realize they
need to stop."

So how did Maki get involved with drugs?

As a youth, he said he "always messed with beer." When he was older
he used marijuana and liquor. His parents had divorced, and he and
his older brother lived with his mother, who remarried twice. He said
he and his brother did what they wanted.

As a 17-year-old Sparks High School student, he used meth and drank
all night with his friends. He soon dropped out.

It was easy for Maki to find meth. There were dealers on street
corners and friends who were casino workers who seemed to have an
endless supply.

Soon, Maki would commit crimes while under the influence of meth. He
and his friends would steal beer from local convenience stores and
rip off buckets of winnings from tourists in casinos. He started selling drugs.

"My whole life was wrapped up in looking for meth, getting high and
gambling," he said. "Once you're back in the bag (addiction), you
start to sell it."

Keeping clean after his prison release was not easy. His old hangouts
would remind him of getting high, and he was tempted by his
drug-addicted friends.

"In prison I got healthy and decided I had enough with that stuff,"
he said. "I cut my homies loose ... but it's the lifestyle you get
caught up in. Dope keeps the lifestyle going."

"My life now is Little League, being a husband and a father,
finally," Maki said. "It's really good now."