A life on
drugs
A portrait of Drake
Balls by Maria Josefa
When you look at Drake you just see
a normal ordinary guy. He is 43, he is married to Elise and has a 14 year old
boy named Eric. But what you don’t see, when you look at Drake, is all the
struggle, and pain this man has gone through
Drake has been a drug user most of
his life. He started as a curious young teenager at age 15. “Back
then it wasn’t an addiction but just an easy way of having fun with the other
boys. It was much faster just to take a MDMA pill and go crazy, than
getting drunk” - Drake explains.
“Back then we thought that we were cool.
We didn’t think much of it”
But things became more serious.
Suddenly it wasn’t only in the weekends and he started to do it by himself.
Getting up in the morning became a struggle, school became struggle, life
became a struggle. “My grades were shit, I flunked all of my classes. I just didn’t care
anymore. All I could think about was getting high.”
Things only got worse. “I
already had a bad relationship with my parents, but when I became an addict, it
got so much worse. I started to steal money from them just to get my fix. At
times I was a living zombie, other times I had a crazy temper.”
At ages 17, Drake’s parents have had
enough. They kicked him out, after Drake lost his temper one night, and hit his
mother. “I do understand why they couldn’t deal with me anymore, I really do. I
was out of control.”
After Drake lost his home he dropped out of school. “I lived on the street for about
2 weeks, until my friend, Tom, took me in. He gave me food and a place to
sleep.” Tom took Drake under his wings. He gave
him a place to live. But Tom wasn’t a saint. Tom was a drug-dealer, and when
Drake couldn’t pay for staying with him, or his own drugs, Tom made him start
dealing for him.
“I started to deal and if you ask
me, I was pretty good at it” Drake helped Tom with his dealing, for 7 years until the day Tom got
shot by another drug dealer.
Losing Tom was tough for Drake. “I
have not only lost my only friend but also my dealer. But it finally got me
thinking about what the hell I was doing with my life”
After that day Drake chose to change
his life. He got into a rehab program, where he meet his wife, Elise.
“I’m a new man. I got my life back!
I haven’t touched any drugs for about 19 years now and I never felt better”. Drake now
travels the country and tells his story to other drug users, in rehab programs.
Outline of drugs English project
SvarSletThe topic of both texts is drugs and young people, as both texts deal with the use of drugs among young people. “The worlds view on drugs” by Faris, presents the arguments for and against drugs among young people. The text states that young people do not fully recognise the dangers of drugs, and that drug use can lead to mental health problems, as others state that the drug is a mean to escape feelings of depression, or problems at home. The second text “A life on drugs”, by Maria Josefa sets focus on Drake Balls personal experience with drugs in his younger years. The second text serves as proof, of what the first text states; that the youth doesn’t really recognise how drugs can affect one`s future, as it was ignorance that lead to Drake Balls’ 9 year addiction. “Back then, it wasn’t an addiction, but just an easy way of having fun with the other boys,” says Drake Balls.