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(This is the first in a new series of articles prepared by the Addiction Research Foundation for the News). By Ken Moffatt (Thunder Bay) and Dennis Bernardi (Timmins) of the Addiction Research Foundation This week, we: begin a series of columns which are addressed at the so-called general public and, more specifically, at readers who have or may be developing dependency on drugs. : We will begin the series with a look at an addict's world, beginning in the early stages and finishing with the addict's recovery and efforts to help others. Recently, Addiction Research Foundation (ARF) personnel inter- viewed an individual on his life as an addict. He is a resident of Northern Ontario and has worked to have a Narcotics Anonymous (NA) program functioning. : The following is taken from the transcript of the interviews with '*Bob"' (not his real name). While he would prefer to use his own name, it is being withheld because of the confidentiality provisions of NA. This is Bob's story,.but it also represents the stories of other drug dependent people. ARF: Bob, how .old were you when you first started using drugs? Bob: I was 12, and I used drugs Register Submitted by the Schreiber Recreation Department Registrations for a number of gen- eral interest courses are still being ac- ' cepted by the Schreiber Recreation Department. Those courses include: cake decorating, belly dancing, rice paper lampshades, paper tole, sew- ing, microwave cooking II, mix- ology, small motor repair, habit con- trol workshop, and crochet and knit- ting for both right and lefthanded people. Aerobics Hurray! We finally have instruct- ors for our aerobics classes, which will be held on Monday and Wednes- day evenings from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Days for the afternoon courses have not yet been worked out, but they will also be held. To register, please contact the Recreation Office at 824-2317. Classes will begin on Nov. 10, so register now. Courses The Schreiber Recreation Depart- ment is interested in organizing some unique and unusual courses. If you have a skill or craft that you wish to share or if you wish to see a certain course offered, please let us know. We will do our best to accomodate you. Memories and Reflections He may be dead and gone, but his music and spirit live on. The Recrea- tion Committee in Schreiber will be sponsoring a "Memories and Reflect- ions of the King" concert. It will be performed by one of the top-rated Elvis Presley impersonators in North America, the one and only Billy Can. The concert will be held on Thurs- day, Nov. 13 at the Schreiber High School gym. Tickets are available from the High School, the Schreiber Rec Office, the Terrace Bay Rec Of- fice, Lorraine Huard, or any member of the Schreiber Rec Committee. Plan to attend a great evening of rock and roll. Ringette Jamboree Schreiber will be hosting the Third Annual North Shore Recreation Dir- ectors Ringette Jamboree on Nov. 7, 8, and 9. With over 150 girls between the ages of eight and 12 scheduled to par- ticipate, Schreiber wil never be the same. Plan to attend and participate in the activities. Advertising is a guide to _ fashion. and quit about three years ago. I was 26 when I finally got it together and . got out of it. ARF: How old are you now? Bob: I'm 29. ARF: How did you get into the drug scene? Bob: Well, I got into it with a cou- ple of buddies, and at first it. was all right, it was fun, it was something new and different. Nobody coaxed us into it--it was just out of curiosity. We wanted to see what it was all about. That's how we got into it. ARF: Can you recall when you started to use drugs (and) how it felt - to you at that time? Bob: Well, at first it was all right, it's a different buzz, a different feel- ing, you have a good time, you know ...you like it at first. ARF: Was it a big change from the way you felt before you 'started us- ing drugs? Bob: Well, you feel special, you feel cool. We were kind of young. There were three or four of us and nobody our age was using it, so it made us something special from other kids our age. They thought we had guts, that's what was good about it. ARF: So you fellows were big shots in your circle. Bob: Yeah, that's it. ARF: What kind of drugs are we talking about when we say that Bob got into drugs for 14 years? Bob: Well, it's everything from smoking joints, doing speed (meth- amphetamine), coke (cocaine), acid (LSD), THC (cannabis), anything. I would do just about anything I could lay my hands on, and you could say I overused it. I was kind of a hog. ARF: What do you mean when you say "hog"? Bob: Well, I had no limits. I would do it until I totally wiped out. I over- dosed a few times and I had no con- trol at all. ARF: So you didn't have a par- ticular routine where you said to yourself at some point "that's - enough, time to go home to bed."' Bob: I would start when I got up in the morning before going to work. Later on, when I was older and work- ing I'd have a coffee and put a tea- spoon of mescaline in the coffee, drink it, smoke a few joints, go to _ work and work all day and smoke a few joints during the day. Whatever I did I was stoned. ARF: It was part of your life on an ongoing basis. It was not an occ- asional party, drugs were your life? Bob: That's it. The first couple of years I was young and didn't have that much money, but then I started dealing it so that I had more money and started using dope more regular- ly. From the age of 15 on, I was ston- Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, October 29, 1986, page 3 A Northern Ontario drug addict's story ed pretty much every day. When I started, they were selling nickel pieces ($5 pieces) which they don't sell anymore. So let's say you'd get an ounce, you'd sell half of it and the other half would be yours. You could smoke it and it wouldn't cost you any- thing. (To be continued next week.) For more information, call ARF at 1-622-0607 or Narcotics Anonymous at 1-344-4357. ae glad you did. a Insurance Agents... before you renew your client's employee-group health and dental benefits plan, ask me for information on a Blue Cross program. Your client will be at For details contact: Bob Lenardon 34 Cumberland Street North Suite 707 » & (807) 345-5451 6385-1M Thunder Bay, Ontario P7A 4L3 4 Lg BLUE CROSS TICKETS: $8.00 Advanced $10.00 at Door STAR OF MEMORIES @ REFLECT! PERFORMED BY: BILLY CAN SPONSORED BY: SCHREIBER PARKS & RECREATION COMMITTEE THURS. NOV. 13, 8:00 p.m. SCHREIBER HIGH SCHOOL GYM TICKETS Available from: TERRACE BAY REC CENTRE- SCHREIBER REC CENTRE- SCHREIBER HIGH SCHOOL- & any member of SCHREIBER RECREATION ONS OF THE KING 825-3542 824-2317 824-2555 COMMITTEE