FORMER ADDICT SAYS HEROIN-FREE HAPPINESS A 'RELIEF'

Dave Was 13 When Older Kids Introduced Him To Heroin At Valpo Park

Dave was 13 the first time he used heroin at Jessee-Pifer Park in Valparaiso.

"There were some older kids there who asked if I wanted to try it,"
Dave said. Dave, now 23, didn't touch heroin again until he was in
high school and working at a restaurant. One of the girls who worked
there had a boyfriend who was on methadone and OxyContin.

"I bought her methadone off of her and eventually had to buy dope in
Chicago," Dave said.

"I was scared to go. I didn't want to get out of the car. After
awhile, that was as much of a rush as any of it."

Dave went to 31st and State streets on the South Side of Chicago to
buy his drugs at the Stateway Gardens public housing project.

It didn't take long for him to get addicted to heroin.

"The next time I went up there, they said if you want to do this, you
have to shoot it," Dave said.

"From there, it was downhill real fast."

All of this was happening while he maintained a C average at
Valparaiso High School and served as a peer tutor to his classmates.

Dave, who asked that his last name not be used to protect his
father's business, graduated high school and left his parents' home,
crashing with friends in various places. Unlike many young addicts,
Dave's parents didn't kick him out. He wanted to leave.

His father, a prominent local attorney, knew he was on drugs, but his
mother believed his lies that he wasn't.

Dave said he knows a lot of the drug problem locally lies with
parents, but they aren't solely to blame.

"A lot of the responsibility was pushed onto the high school for
teaching right and wrong when I was there," he said.

"A lot of kids don't have their parents around, rich or poor, to give
them a good foundation. I chose to be absent from my parents. I
decided I didn't want what they were trying to give me. I had the
ability to be with them as much as I wanted, but I didn't want it."

He got off of the drug for a few years, but came right back to it.

"I ran out of money and got real sick, so I got a ride and went to my
mom's and I said I was dope-sick (going through withdrawal)," Dave said.

Dave dried out, but it wasn't easy. His parents locked him in their
house for a month.

"I begged them to take me to a methadone clinic, and they said no," he said.

Eventually, his parents said they would take him if he really needed
it, but by that point, he was thinking clearly enough to say no.

"I didn't want to get addicted again," Dave said. "You're either
going to be arrested, get help or die, and every person is different.
I wanted to get help."

And he did. He got involved with a 12-step program that has kept him
clean. He still attends meetings regularly.

He said he knows he isn't going to go back to drugs.

"I've got a taste of happiness, and it's a relief," Dave said. "I've
lost a few friends, but I've gained real friends."