One addict's story of prescription drug dangers

Jennifer Smith first took oxycodone pills 20 years ago when she was 18 years old. She said she did it because she hated her life.

"I started out drinking (alcohol), and the older I got, the heavier that became," she said. "I ended up having a baby at 17 and was, of course, 'Woe is my life.' My sister had some oxycodone and offered them to me. I took two of them and they actually made me very ill. As time progressed, my life, I felt, got worse. I was in an abusive marriage. To medicate myself was the only way to go. The next big step was when I had my tonsils out and they gave me liquid codeine. That was it; I was hooked because I liked the way it made me feel."

Smith said she initially got high with her husband by taking prescription narcotics like Percocet and Dilaudid. She often got the drugs by going "doctor shopping" at physicians' offices and medical facilities around the region.

"You would say to the doctor, my thing was if I say I don't want the narcotics, it will be even easier for him to think I'm not addicted. So he'd say, 'I can give you some oxycodone for that.' And I'd be like, 'No, I don't think so. Do you think I need it?' He's like, 'Well, it's up to you.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I guess I'll try it.' So I would kind of (work the system) very well."

Smith's addiction to prescription painkillers eventually led her to harder drugs, including heroin, crack and cocaine. As this was going on, Smith was working as a registered nurse, a job she held for 11 years. She said she would often take drugs at work and would swipe prescription narcotics from the patients she was supposed to be helping.

"They would have a medication that they'd only be able to swallow it if it's in applesauce," she said. "So I would take the medicine that was for them and take it myself and give them the applesauce, and they never knew."

Eventually, Smith decided to quit her job because she was afraid of getting caught and didn't want to go to jail. Smith said she tried to hide her addiction from her family, including her three children. She'd do cocaine to get high and then take the sleep-aid drug Ambien to come down so she'd be asleep when the kids came home from school. But they still noticed.

"My son, who was 16 at the time, put together an intervention for me," Smith said. "He actually called child protective services, my mother, my father and their significant others. I was upstairs sleeping, and they came up, yanked me out of bed and told me I was going to lose everything unless I went to rehab. So off I went to rehab."

That was five years ago. Smith said she spent her first stint in rehab, which lasted about a month, counting the days until she could get out and get another fix. "I did what I had to do, like most addicts, to get out of there as quickly as possible," she said. "I'm very ashamed to say this, but it wasn't as important for me to see my family and children as it was to get my next hook."

Smith stayed clean for about a month. Then she fell back into her old routine again. She actually started using more drugs at that point. Instead of taking two Percocet, she would take six or seven.

"I used to lie to my sister, and I'm so ashamed of this," Smith said. "She would have legitimate reasons to have the medication, but I would make up a lie saying, 'If you don't give me 50 Percocet and 50 Dilaudid, my dealer is going to beat me up.' And she would always pull me out and save me."

After her kids found her passed out on the couch and unresponsive, Smith went in for another round of detox. Ten days later she emerged and, yet again, resumed her old habits.

Not long after that, Smith was arrested for driving while intoxicated. She got probation but was later sent to jail for two months for violating her probation. She detoxed again before she went to jail. When she finally got out, Smith said she realized that she had to change her life.

"I knew I was ready to become straight," she said. "I was sick of disappointing family. I had already started with the mental health counseling and was talking to the drug and alcohol counselor (at St. Joseph's). I figured now's the time, just stick with it."

That was about 16 months ago. Smith said she's been clean since Aug. 15, 2010, and plans to stay that way.

"I do have temptations, but I call someone in the program," she said. "I come to a meeting. I have my counseling sessions here. I have major support from my family, and I've changed my life a lot. Things are good now, whereas before my mindset was totally different."

Smith is currently unemployed but said she's in the process of trying to renew her nursing license.Asked why she was willing to speak about her struggle with drug addiction, Smith said she hopes telling her story will drive someone else who's addicted to seek help.

"If I just help one person who's doing this, then I'll feel really decent, really good," she said.