Drug Addicts
Mark Mark of New Jersey is one of the drug addicts I chose to talk to. He is my uncle and I have had a very close relationship with him throughout my whole life. He is currently 54 years old and has been drinking since he was in his twenties. He states that is was only socially until he was about 45. During this year he fell off a ladder and tore is shoulder and needed surgery. He owns his own construction company so he was hesitant to take the time off to have the surgery. He was in a great deal of pain so his doctor prescribed him Vicodin for when the pain was not bearable. He began drinking heavily after work and taking Vicodin every night until he passed out on the couch. After about 6 months of this his wife, my aunt Colleen had enough and forced him to have the shoulder surgery. Once his shoulder was healed from the surgery he was off the painkillers but was still abusing alcohol every night because he claimed his shoulder still hurt. In 2008 he developed a herniated disk in his back and had back surgery. After this surgery he was given oxycodone for pain relief. His doctor wrote him scripts for a few months and then expected him to be healed and in no pain. Mark went back for scripts for almost a year, and he was succeeding in getting the drugs legally because he claimed to be in a great deal of pain still. Colleen became concerned because she was worried he was severely addicted and he was still drinking heavily on a nightly basis. His doctor stopped writing him prescriptions for the medications in late of 2008, at this same time colleen cracked down on his drinking and told him he needed to get a grip on his life or he would loose his family. This is when he says it all went down hill, he began getting the oxycondone illegally from guys he used to play hockey with and he was hiding his alcohol under the seat in his pick up truck and in the rafters of their basement. He claims that this went on without his wife knowing for about a year, he knew he was