"This is my story of how I changed my life and overcame addiction. I came into drugs and alcohol at an early age. I was twelve years old when I took my first drink; I’ll always remember that feeling I had. That type of mentality followed me into my teenage years. At fourteen years old I started smoking marijuana to fit in with the older crowd.
"Before I started using drugs, I was doing well, either playing sports or busy with school. The older I got, the more I was smoking marijuana. It got to the point where that wasn’t enough for me anymore, which is when I started to drink socially. At sixteen years old I began mixing the two at parties or when hanging out with my friends. I was still showing up for school and my social life had never been better, but something was different. I noticed that I was more devious to my family and friends by making excuses and lying to them about where I was going and what I was doing.
"As I got older and continued to use drugs and drink alcohol, I found myself losing interest in my goals and my desire to better myself. I became anti-social and completely oblivious to anything or anyone around me. I wasn’t getting high like I was before; the feeling would wear off in an hour so it would take more drugs to sustain my high. I started experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs like LSD and psychedelic mushrooms. This, added to what I was doing before, brought me to a new plateau of what I thought was just another high. I completely blinded myself to the cycle of drug addiction that I was creating in my life--a cycle that would almost claim my life many times.
"After graduating from high school, I was ready to go out and make things happen for myself, completely neglecting the fact of who I had become--an alcoholic and daily drug user, trying to push myself to just accomplish anything so that I could earn money to support my habit. At this period in my life, I went to college and failed out my freshman year due to poor grades. On top of drinking heavily, I began using cocaine and ecstasy at parties. I got into a bad car accident with a telephone pole while driving under the influence. I was going nowhere in life.
"At this point, my family sat me down and did an intervention. They said, ‘John, you need to get your life together. We found this place in Oklahoma called Narconon Arrowhead that can help you.’ At that point my reality was so skewed that I said, ‘Sure, if it gets me out of Lowell, Massachusetts.’
"The next day I was at Narconon® starting the first step of my program. The people at Narconon were very nice to me and helped me feel comfortable in my new environment."My program was not easy; in fact, it was the single hardest thing I have ever done! I rid the toxins from my body and let go of the desire to want to use drugs. Then the life skills courses gave me the tools needed to succeed in life.
"After graduating the Narconon program I made the best decision I’ve made in long time--to stay and work at Narconon Arrowhead. I now go to schools and do presentations to students about the dangers and truth about drugs. I take this very seriously because I know the power that drugs can have over the body and mind. This program gave me my life back and now I look forward to sharing my experience with younger minds."
-- John Bitinas
Narconon Arrowhead Graduate October 19th, 2006
(Story written March of 2008)
If you would like more information on Drug Education for your community please contact John at 1-800-468-6933 or email him at druged@stopaddiction.com.
© 2008 Narconon of Oklahoma, Inc. All rights reserved. NARCONON and the Narconon logo are trademarks and service marks owned by Association for Better Living and Education International and are used with its permission.
