From Painkillers in Middle School to Heroin in High School… It Led Me to Crack & Prison | Ep 225

In this episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig sits down with Alex Deener for an intense and unfiltered conversation about early drug use, opioid addiction, heroin, prison, violence, relapse, and the long road to recovery. Alex's story is a powerful look at how addiction can take hold at a young age and spiral into consequences that change the course of an entire life.

Alex opens up about his childhood and getting caught with painkillers in middle school, an incident that led to a felony charge and being pushed into online school. With fewer boundaries and his drug use escalating, Alex became deeply involved with opioid pills during high school. At just 18 years old, he tried heroin for the first time, setting off a devastating chapter of addiction. He describes the progression from Opana to heroin and the dangerous decisions that pulled him further into a life centered around drugs.

Eventually, Alex was caught with cocaine and heroin and received prison time. He shares the brutal reality of incarceration, including a jail fight that left his jaw broken and the experience of being locked up at the Ohio State Penitentiary. As his addiction continued, crack cocaine became another part of his struggle. Alex also reflects on his childhood experiences with Adderall, the challenges of trying to get sober, and the repeated trips in and out of treatment that came before he began to understand what lasting recovery would require.

🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.

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