What Is It Like to be a Crack Addict?

“Being addicted to crack is probably one of the most torturing things in the world. For me, it was a never-ending cycle of working to get money somehow and then smoking crack until there was no money left. I wound up putting aside everything for this one drug.

“Smoking crack degraded me to the point where I couldn't handle my money or any basic functions in life. I went from someone who at least on the outside had it made to someone who was living out of a shed. The funny thing about it was, I remember smoking crack and feeling so internally tortured but for some reason, I would just keep doing more and more. One Thanksgiving I smoked crack and threw up. I felt terrible, but I would get a real quick rush so for a couple seconds everything was ok. Then I crashed down real hard.

“I would get depressed and think about all the things that sucked in my life. Then I would smoke more crack giving another short feeling of relief like life was better. I hated myself because I knew I shouldn’t be using making me feel like a dirt bag. But I couldn’t stop, no matter how mad I was at myself.

“I struggled with other substances throughout my life, but mentally and emotionally, crack took the cake on how bad life got for me; the turmoil it created, the constant up and down not to mention the hole in my pocket that would hemorrhage money.

“I smoked crack to the point I had no hot water or electricity in my house. I quit paying my rent and eventually ended up living in a shed. Nothing was sacred anymore…”

“I smoked crack to the point I had no hot water or electricity in my house. I quit paying my rent and eventually ended up living in a shed. Nothing was sacred anymore.

“When I started, I was a manager at a company responsible for over 30 employees. I had a beautiful condo in Miami, a fiancé and a three year-old son I took care of. I had a pretty good life, and I enjoyed life for what it was. I had money to spare, a nice car and all the things that would make others impressed.

“I had so many opportunities in the position I was in and I threw everything away to smoke crack. My fiancé left me, I lost my son, I sold my cars, literally everything I had. I even gave away a custom gold wedding band that my father had given me for my wedding. Perhaps the dumbest thing was when I would trade something for crack, then instantly regret it.

“I was responsible for a 30 person company and all the employees. Meanwhile, I was smoking crack in the bathroom at night and living out of a shed. Looking back it still amazes me the amount of money and opportunities I lost to crack. If I hadn't gotten into treatment for crack addiction when I did, things could have gotten really bad. Who knows where I would have ended up.

“If you need help for someone smoking crack please get help for them before it is to late.”

—L.N. Narconon Graduate

(To preserve privacy, the photo does not show the Narconon student.)