Drugs, its pretty much teenagers life.

One cell phone call late Wednesday night a couple years back was the day I found my friend, John lukus was gone for a lifetime. He was a handsome young gentle man with a mind that was more mature than others. He didn’t have a high school degree but he was highly intelligent, until drugs became his obsession. John was closed to his mother Sharon and his baby sister katie. Me and his close friends didn’t realize was he into drugs till a few months after he started. The pale flushed look and the people he was hanging with is what got me to start asking questions.

The distances between us was getting father apart. He wouldn’t visit like he always did. “Users began to be distances towards people they know” (Waismann Method) When he did visit, John still had that pale sickly look so I ask him what was wrong. He would get defensive and just say he was sick. When I would hang out with other friends of his they would say the same thing that he was so pale and he didn’t look health. “dry mouth, loss of interest in usual healthy activity, Missing cash/valuables, stealing/borrowing money, and the change in friends are just some of the signs to look for in heroin users” (narconon). We all thought he was getting involved with drugs but we didn’t want to believe that. Weeks went by without hearing from him. Until one day I finally called his house and his mom answered the phone. We talked on the phone for close to an hour just talked about her oldest son. John didn’t come home for three days straight his mother told me. She was worried about him.

My friend and I visited him at his house when we got out of school. We sat down and talked about what was getting said about him and what he thinks he is doing. John was getting so irritated with what we had to say. We yelled back and forth until the truth came out. “Drug users try to hide there addiction from the ones that care for them” (waltson-mangel). He was a heroin user. Since then I didn’t look at him the same. “They don’t understand who they are hurting when they start up with drugs” (waltson-mangel).

The treatment plans was starting the next day since everyone already knew about his drug use. “Helping someone that’s addicted to drugs is not easy” (NIDA). The look on his face for not having that “high” he always got was unforgettable. With the withdrawals beginning, he was getting angry and craving the drug. “Withdrawals from heroin can cause restlessness, craving for the drug, vomiting and joint pains” (Spencer recovery centers). For months, help was all we were looking for. The clients, the online wed sites, the hotlines didn’t get us anywhere. John just didn’t want to go. Waltson-mangel would want John to know he had people that supported him and wanted to help.

Even through he didn’t want to go get help for his addiction, we still pressured him to. Trying to explain the harm or even the disease he could catch was like talking to a brick wall. “If heroin is use with a needle, you are taking the risk of catching AIDS/HIV, hepatitis, or even a skin disease” (Drug rehab). It started to be an everyday thing or should I say a multiple time a day thing now. No only did he turn down the help from his friends but also from his family. Everything just fell apart. Sharon tried everything to get him back on his feet again, but it was a useless battle. Stealing of money started to become an issue with him. No one would leave there belonging around him because he would steal money or pretty much anything to get money for the drug. The addiction just kept getting stronger and stronger. Visiting him just wasn’t the same. John developed a strong negative attitude towards everyone that stood in his view. He wasn’t as energetic as he use to. I started to loose hope in him.

Months went by without talking with john. I felt like there wasn’t any more I could do. I tried to help, but he didn’t want to help himself. When I seen his family around town, I would of course ask how he’s doing, but I couldn’t stand to here what they had to say. Let me just say drugs took his life over, it wasn’t just an obsession anymore. Sharon said he barely came around his own house. He was always out doing whatever with whomever. Sharon told me she had some bad news to tell me, John ended up catching hepatitis from sharing needles. I swear my heart stop that moment she told me. John is getting worst before he’s trying to get better.

Just when I thought nothing else could go worse for him. I got a call on my cell at 7:45pm on Wednesday about 3 months after I seen Sharon around town. It was terriable, heart breaking new. She was balling her eye out. I couldn’t even make out what she was saying. I told her to calm down and tell me what was wrong. I had a gut feeling it was about her son. Then it came out. John had died in his house from an overdoes of heroin. I just broke down, that was the end of me. I couldn’t even bare it. It felt like someone had ripped my heart out. It was a hard week for the people that knew him. It felt so unreal that it actually happened. The wake was the following Saturday. Everyone he knew was there to give there condolence. It was hard to see everyone standing there crying. It was also hard for me to expect the fact that one of my good friends had died from the use of drugs. Even till this day when August 18 comes around, a tear still drops from my eyes for a the remembrance of my friend John Lukus.