While I was in high school, I drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes during the summer and then in the fall, I would stop so I could run for the track and cross-country. After graduating from high school in 1966, I began to drink more regularly. After some the friends I used to hangout with came back from college, I was introduced to marijuana in the spring of 1970.

From there, I became increasingly involved with drugs. It started with Marijuana and then went to speed, then on into hallucinogenic and then cocaine.

By 1973, I was using so much marijuana that two others and I grew some marijuana. In October of 1973, the Indiana State Police raided the house and the three of us ended up in jail. The newspaper report estimated the amount at about 15 lbs. Then at the trial time I remembered that God worked a miracle for me, I received only a Misdemeanor charge and 120 days in the State Farm and a year's probation. The County Sheriff interceded for us to go to the Farm, instead of the county jail.

While at the State Farm Prison, I learned more about drugs and how to sell them. There were as many drugs there as were on the streets but I stayed away from them. After I was released from prison, I was able to return to work. God had interceded at work for me to keep my job. I had time to set up a leave of absence from work before going to prison. Therefore, when I got out of prison I was able to return to work.

Soon after returning to work, I was laid off with about 6,000 other people. During this time, the drug use increased to a heavy usage. When I returned to work, I did slow down using drugs for a while. By the end of the year the drug usage was more than when I was laid off. By the spring of 1976, I was spending at least 2/3 of my pay on drugs weekly. I was working in the automotive industry making high wages and a lot of over time.