Reese Witherspoon on the November edition of maire claire
Ever wondered what it’s like to be addicted to drugs – and not just any drugs? But heroin, cocaine and amphetamines?
A living nightmare with no end, according to an incredibly inspiring young woman I just interviewed for the November edition of marie claire magazine which features Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon on the cover.
Naomi (not her real name) talks with rare honesty about her decision to use drugs – yes, she decided to use, like most addicts – and how her life deteriorated over a few short years to the point where she was stealing from her family and friends, acting as a driver while her addict boyfriend committed burglaries, and became a dealer to feed what was, at its nadir, a $1500-a-day habit.
Naomi began smoking marijuana at the age of 15 and her life story is bound to add to the hot debate among the experts about whether the noxious weed is the first stepping stone to more serious addictions or just a harmless drug.
“I started smoking marijuana,” Naomi told me. “I knew it would upset my parents. I was just so angry at them.”
By the time she was 20, her life was so sordid that she is lucky to have survived at all. “I injected the drugs into my arms, when those veins collapsed I injected into veins in my wrists,” she says.
But there is hope. Naomi entered Odyssey House in Melbourne and got clean with the help of its residential drug rehabilitation program, and while very dark in parts, her story is ultimately uplifting.
To find out how one young life deliberately got so out of control and then was turned around, pick up a copy of marie claire.
