FORMER CRACK ADDICT TELLS STORY

John Doe Is a Lucky Man.

He came from a happy and normal Columbia Valley home - in the classic
nuclear family sense.

But in what is a grand example of the old admission, 'you just never
know how things are going to work out,' John Doe (his name has,
obviously, been changed to protect his identity) followed a road away
from graduation at David Thompson Secondary School in the 1990s that
led him to the edge of madness and, with apologies to Joseph Conrad,
the heart of darkness.

It was a wild sleigh ride down an extremely steep slope coated with
cocaine and crack cocaine. It isn't a story that is unique to addicts
and, because he was lucky enough to finish his ride relatively
intact, it would not attract much 'story of the week' interest from
television producers or filmmakers.

However, any story depicting survival, fortitude and courage is worth
sharing, especially when education can be the result.

With that goal in mind, John Doe recently agreed to sit down with The
Echo to share his story.

"It's a happy ending for me," he began, cupping a cold beer in his hand.

"Yeah, I still drink and smoke pot," he said, admitting that
marijuana was "totally a gateway drug."

He noted that as a teenager he was against pot but ended up trying it
and that led to magic mushrooms (psilicybin) and then to acid (LSD)
and then to coke.

John's first foray into cocaine began when he was 19.

"I couldn't sleep very well and we were doing lots of coke. It seemed
so cas(ual) - everyone was doing it, especially in this valley. It's
unbelievable."

Soon after finding himself ankle deep in snow, John packed his
belongings and ventured to the big city.

"There were some good times there," he began, laughing, but those
times soon turned into darker, more sinister periods.

His fledgling cocaine addiction led him to begin hanging out with "a
triad" (Asian gang) due to the availability of the drug.

"It was a power trip and I was really caught up in it. They showed me
the rock (crack). It was instantaneous. I was instantly hooked," he
recalled, adding he began to live a superficial lifestyle where there
were "real hard core party nights. It was so f*ing wild. We had so
many chicks!"

He drained his beer and continued. His voice transformed from that of
a young man recalling wild times to one of complete seriousness.

The wild times came with a great price.

Once he was addicted to crack, John became a loner, his girlfriend
dumped him and he began to ignore bills, responsibilities and debts.
He lost his job, his truck and was months behind in his rent.

"It's good memories but I never wanna see those guys again. As fun as
it was, they played me like a fiddle and I got played out.

"I was changing but I didn't even know it. I didn't give a shit about
anybody or anything - even myself. There were months and months where
I was just doing it myself. I was just hiding out," he said.

John was addicted to crack for one year - with a six month period
featuring "the worst of it."

Fortunately for him, his family came to the rescue.

"It was total intervention in the end," he said, explaining that his
parents came to the city to retrieve him. "We packed up my shit and came home.

"That was probably the worst moment in my life, when I opened the
front door and there stood my son looking like a walking cadaver,"
his mother said.

"I had many scary moments throughout my child-rearing years, you know
when children are hurt or missing, but nothing prepared me for the
panic I felt when I saw my son looking half dead.

"I knew something had to be done, and done fast. The fortunate thing
was that he had also come to that same conclusion. It was he who made
the first move. He finally reached a point where he knew he had to."

The move home helped but it also led to a stint in a rehabilitation
clinic in Claresholm, Alta., after he became reacquainted with the
valley's cocaine scene.

"I met the biggest losers ever in rehab. Some of them were addicted
to everything out there. Some of them were three and four time
losers," he recalled.

John also noted that the treatment he received continues to help him
today - six years after the fact and six years free of cocaine.

"It gave me a lot more respect."

Admitting he had a problem was one of the more difficult aspects of
being addicted to crack, John said.

"I was nine months into the shit before I realized I needed to have
the shit and I didn't fight it. I didn't look in the mirror. Now it's
all good. Family and friends helped me through it and I have got a
good job here."

Still, being a young man and living in the valley - called 'snow
valley' the past three decades - means continued perseverance and
strength for John.

"I don't even look at the shit anymore," he said, admitting he sees
it all around him. "I don't judge but I feel really sorry for them
(users)," he said. "I swear, I can see it on any person's face. It's
in the back of their mind - when to get the next fix."

When asked if he believes the cocaine scene is as prevalent as people
suspect, John replied, "Oh yeah. It's everywhere. It's even worse
than when I was younger. It wasn't in high school when I was there
because I was hanging out with guys who would have been doing it if
it was around. It's in the school now for sure."

Columbia Valley RCMP Cpl. Dale Morgan agrees there is a cocaine
problem in the community.

"Drug and alcohol abuse is a problem throughout all of B.C. Last year
at a public meeting, one local referred to it as an entrenched
problem in this community to which I would have to agree. We are
starting to deal with third generation drug abuse in some families.
People don't realize the drugs of today are far more potent and in
some case lethal than they were 30 years ago," he said.

"Drugs are everywhere. Anyone who says otherwise is stupid," John
said. "There are days in this valley when you can't find weed but you
will find coke. Three phone calls and you've got a little baggie."

Morgan said it remains an uphill battle for police to try and help
curb cocaine in the community.

He pointed at a recent court case where a man charged with cocaine
possession "received an absolute discharge and the encouragement from
the judge to pursue his battle" as one example.

"I think there is a lot the community needs to do. The government has
been looking at decriminalizing some drugs, and as they are
responsible for the courts, we as a community need to impress upon
our elected officials that drug and alcohol abuse is still a large
problem in all communities and has a negative impact - i.e. increased
property and persons crimes, as well as supporting organized crime," he said.

"The government also needs to review some legislation in the area of
search and seizure, which is hampering police's ability to combat the
problem," Morgan concluded.

"My husband and I grew in the late '60s, early '70s, so we should
have been able to tell something was up. We knew he smoked pot, but
crack- we had absolutely no idea," said Mom.

Telling his mother about his problem opened the door for John's
recovery and that's the advice he wishes to impart on readers.

"Let people help you. Just tell someone," he said. "It leads to such
an ugly road."