Award-winning author David Sheff shares an important message he learned during his own son’s battle with drug addiction: Addiction is a family disease.
“As a teenager, my eldest son, Nic, became addicted to methamphetamine, heroin and other drugs. Our family spent 10 years in hell. Any parent who has been there knows the feeling of watching a child on a course that could lead to their death. Countless parents have been there along with me. And too many have suffered worse tragedies. The numbers are staggering. Opioids alone – pain pills, heroin, fentanyl, and similar drugs – kill an average of 91 people a day – and death is only one tragic result of drug use and addiction. Users become physically and mentally impaired, lose jobs and relationships, and end up in prison.”
David Sheff is a journalist and the author of The New York Times best-sellers Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction and Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America’s Greatest Tragedy. He’s the recipient of the 2017 American Society of Addiction Medicine media award for his contribution to increasing the public’s understanding of addiction, addiction treatment and recovery, and a former recipient of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids’ Special Tribute award.