DRUGS STOLE MY BEAUTIFUL SISTER FROM US

I don't have a solution for the problems of the Downtown Eastside, but
I have a sister living there who is a heroin addict. Our family never
expected her to end up with the life she has lived for more than 20
years now. She grew up in a small town in southern B.C., moved to
Vancouver to go to college, dropped out and moved to L.A. to pursue
her dream of becoming a movie star. She worked as an extra in a few
movies while supporting herself as a nanny.

Next thing we knew, she came back at Christmas to visit and her
employer fired her at the airport just before she boarded the plane.
Six months later, the new family who hired her as a nanny in Vancouver
called my parents to say she had drained their wine collection and
replaced it with coloured water. My sister had a drinking problem.

Things got worse. She kept drinking, did a lot of cocaine, got
pregnant when she was in her early 20s and lived on welfare. Then she
started doing heroin. How all this came about is something none of our
family understands. My dad's family has a long history of alcoholism,
though neither of my parents drink.

My sister would call my parents late at night and beg for money,
saying she had no food for her tiny son. The money went for drugs,
though, and her son went unfed, unbathed and uncared for. His dad was
never in the picture.

My parents finally took custody of my sister's son when he was eight
years old. The first question he asked when they asked him if he would
like to come live with them was: "Do you have food at your house?"

When they assured him they did, he was very happy to come stay with
them. He's 20 now, was a very good student throughout school, and is
making his own way in the world, without any of the issues his mother
deals with. He hasn't seen his mother for five or six years.

My sister "disappeared" for about 10 years. My parents finally refused
to let her come visit. She showed up at Christmas a few times and
ended up stealing my mom's jewelry and anything else she could sneak
away with. She also was very abusive to my parents.

My parents paid for therapy and she tried to go into rehab multiple
times, but always ended up doing more heroin. She'd call from the
hospital after overdosing and finally my mom had to stop taking her
calls.

My sister has not worked for more than 20 years now. She has been a
prostitute, but not had any other job. It's a real tragedy. She was a
beautiful young girl once upon a time. We would gladly help her if we
could, but she makes her own decisions and the biggest factor in her
life is how to maintain her heroin supply.

Tom