10 Years Drug-Free: How Narconon Helped Me Shift My Focus from Drugs to Success

I was born in California and was generally a happy kid. However, this changed when I was 14, and I started using alcohol, weed and meth.

At that point life started going downhill. I was skipping school and was arrested at 15 for battery when I got into a fight. I stayed in school until I was 17, hiding the drug use, then left school and home before I was 18. I continued doing drugs, mainly meth and was in and out of jail on possession charges and went to a number of drug rehabs, including a court-ordered one. I would stay clean until I got out and then start using drugs again immediately.

Then in 2014 I started doing heroin and found that this drug was a different animal. I started stealing to feed my drug habit and ended up in jail with a 3-year sentence. I stayed off drugs while in prison, but when I got out, I knew that my life had gone the wrong direction and decided that was going to change.

Interestingly, I had earlier helped a family member go to Narconon and get off drugs, and I knew about that program, so I went to the Narconon center in Louisiana with the full intention of changing my future. I did the program and got what I was looking for─I was fresh, clean, alert, able to think more clearly, and felt grounded and ready to handle life.

After doing the program, I stayed at Narconon Louisiana as a staff member for 3.5 years. For most of that time I worked with students who were nearing the end of their program on how to take more responsibility for their lives and for others and preparing them to go into the world and become productive citizens.

“I am able to put my attention on being successful,
not where to get drugs.”

My favorite thing about getting through the program and off drugs and learning to confront life is knowing I will no longer be letting others down that I care about. I am able to put my attention on being successful, not where to get drugs.

I have been clean for 10 years now, have my own house and a successful mold restoration business, and am soon to be married. I have no desire to do drugs ever again.

My advice if you have a substance abuse problem is this: if you have even the slightest feeling like you should reach for help, know that it is never too late to ask and there are many people willing to do so. Get help and get off drugs, and you will be a much happier individual yourself and will be in a position to help others.

Mike S., Narconon Graduate