You gotta go to the other citys around Boston, Newbedford, Brockton, Springfield thats where the real happens the shit in Boston is just exiles making moves half the city playboys
I went to the halfway house called “the hope house” which is right around the block from there. With 150 men it was the toughest area not only to get clean but to stay in a positive path with that many men in one place getting clean. I was 1 of 3 people who graduated and kept my head down while walking to work and walking home from work. Seen people overdose and worse over my time being there. I’m proud to say I’m 11 1/2 yrs clean and only had to do a program once and beat all the odds that were against me. It’s was the toughest thing I ever did but I was having a kid and that child didn’t ask to be here so I stepped up like I should have. I have so much respect for those out there trying to lend a helping hand and give back.
My sister is 9 months clean in a few days! I love seeing others helping those who cannot do it alone. I’ve been my sisters biggest supporter. Thanks for being you
@@susanosborne8918I'm guessing that you are referring to junkies who have done bad things to you while trying to help them? I definitely believe it, but there's still some of them who can be helped . Unfortunately the bad ones make it harder for the others who are more receptive to help
Well done for loving your sister when she struggles to love herself. I kicked a 28 year heroin addict 3 years ago and could not have done it without out love and support ❤❤❤❤❤
Man something about that woman's answer, "I'm blessed" and the tone she said it in made me check myself and give thanks for all that I have in my life whether it's wanted or not. I'm blessed.
10:35 that lady doing all that for these people with nothing more than the hope of seeing a smile and possibly finding her family members is both heartwarming and breaking at the same time
please do not conflate empathy with humanity, like a modern science fiction flick. humanity encompasses all behaviors that humans are capable of and do. it's not always hugs and lollipops and furry walls.
Been Clean since Feb 2010 Born and raised in Boston. Still here. It is hard work to get clean not easy. It is fight everyday of my life even now. I appreciate the great work you are doing to help inform the city. Much Love. Love and Peace.
Fentanyl addict here. I got hooked on opiates when I was 7 years old from sexual abuse and physical abuse. Started with liquid hydrocodone prescribed for my broken fingers, ended up heavy on fentanyl. I can officially say I’m coming up on 5 years clean cold turkey (I’m 34 years old) and I couldn’t be more fucking grateful I made it out alive. Just buried my best friend from an OD about 3 weeks ago. Just know all of you struggling, it is absolutely possible and stop cutting yourself short by saying you can’t get clean. You fucking CAN and you will. CRAVE sobriety and a good life the same way you crave a high. Praying for you all
@@augustwww3205I genuinely appreciate and I just hope that people struggling can see how beautiful it is on the other side. So hype to see a spotlight on this stuff
@@evolveausevolveausthere’s no other option man I have three beautiful healthy children nowadays relying on me and my sobriety and bringing home the bacon! There is no going back unless I want to jeopardize the wellbeing of 4 people and I’d rather die than do that! No turning back I swear by it 💪
I grew up outside of Boston up on the Northshore . August 6th 2019 is also my clean date just got back into contact with my sister and nephew that I haven't spoken to in 11 years. I am truly blessed.
God dang thank you for that last comment. I’ve been sober since March from fentanyl. My kids don’t know it cause they’re too young, yet they’re why I quit. My wife seems to forget it’s still a struggle, but she’s why I quit. The only person who seems to think about it every day is me, and I want this SO bad so I know I got this. Thank you for saying hang in there. Haven’t heard it in months and it broke me down in tears in a good way. Much love Tommy!
Hang in there brother, I'm a recovering opioid addict it was rough but it's absolutely worth it. Stay strong my brother much love from Southern Virginia 🙏🏻
U can do this buddy!! Just keep all the reasons why u decided to stop at the forefront of ur brain. It’s also a brain disease as well as physical, mental, emotional. & hopefully ur wife comes around she’s prob got a lot of her mind too. Maybe some meetings would help too. Wishing u all the luck in the world🎉
Sober since 12/23/22. Great video Tommy. Anyone struggling it’s possible to recover . Was sleepin in my car less than 2 years ago. Got a great job, peace of mind, a girlfriend, a place to stay. I get to buy myself things instead of every $$ going to get high. I believe in anyone struggling, you got this
Something I wanna say too which is CRAZY. I did fentanyl but I always sniffed it I was scared of needles. People who are in recovery joke that I “wasted” it. That shows how much of a fucking grip it has on people. To think there’s a way to “waste” it 🤦🏻♂️
@@insidejob6961don’t burden him with that man. I’m pushing 5 years clean, two beautiful children. If we go back to that, we are fucking DEAD and we will destroy lives, and that’s a fact. There’s no going back when you get His blessings. This OP is going to succeed and with flying colors. Put some faith in us!
I've been through the addiction gamut. I know what its like to stand in lines at methadone clinics at 5am. I know what its like to have a doctor tell me if I don't stop firing in a spot I'll lose a hand or fingers. Been to the rehabs and psych wards let down everyone that meant something to me. But I've been clean now 13 years, get help people, its never too late. 😎🙏 Thanks Tommy for showing people the real addiction.
I used to sell dilaudid, got strung out, got clean in silence, and stopped selling it. That was about 12 or 13 years ago. Opioids are fucking poison. Glad you got clean, buddy. You're right, never too late.
Damn here in Germany we have fixed times where we can get it but I have a job and never was homeless just got hooked on oxy because in Europe you still get the real ones easily 80mg
Congratulations! I wish I could get clean. I've been using for coming on 11 years now. Was H to start. Now it's been Fent since 2016. I can no longer IV. I just went to the hospital for a kidney infection that was taking my life. I got in the ambulance & the 2 EMTs tried getting an iv. I said, "Good luck!". They scoffed like, " 🙄 We're professionals. We do this all day! We got this under control. " They weren't able to get a vein, though, after a couple of trys. Then I'm at the ER from 3 pm to 1 AM & they did not stop trying since I got there. 10 different nurses came in, & used an ultrasound machine. Even a couple of them they called up from their labs dept. They never did get any b|○○d or IV. I was probably stuck about 20 times or more. Now, I boof it.
@lolsoos4205 in England we have a methadone epidemic. Seriously though my two neighbours are on it . I'm on it have been for 23 years . They are quick to put folks on methadone here . I get mine twice a week 80mg a day . If your still using they make u come in everyday .
i’m from boston and my mother is an addict still i seen her in the vid man and this whole city is ignored and we need way more work to put a end to drugs in our streets it’s so sad seeing the stuff in the video thank you tommy g for coming out here and hopefully this can make people help more for our city☘️☘️
Go to other cities and states and you’ll see that Boston has plenty of resources that others don’t. It’s up to the individual, you have to have the desire to stop using
@@eclecticsoul2514why would she do that? She doesn’t have to. She just watched her mother in this video do you think flapping your gums under her comment about how “other places have it worse?” Helps her at all? No. I hope you’re doing okay 🤍
@@casey5683bro stfu. He's saying there's resources here while youre saying the city needs to do something when in fact the city did do something they cleaned up and methadone mi. It's not like it used to be
Bostonian born and raised. Every time I have to go to that area it breaks my heart and makes me want to cry. It’s just a bunch of people so visibly hurting
I feel you 100. I stumbled upon the area for my first time last summer. They were all out that day. I felt like I just got hit with a wave of overwhelming sadness. You drive past and just see what feels like miles upon miles of wayward souls littering the sidewalk.
as someone from Boston, this was one of your absolute best videos Tommy. I spend a ton of time on MASS AVE because of tech stuff ironically, many of the addicts are great people, just dealt a hard life with no help.
With all due respect, if they're "great people" try using person first language. The term "addict" is dehumanizing and stigmatizing. Try using "People Who Use Drugs" (PWUD) or "substance users". Dr. Sarah Wakeman, Sr. Medical Director of the Substance Use Disorder Initiative at Mass. General, has some great videos on it
I’m 5 years sober from fentanyl and meth. I’m 34 now doing well. It’s literally the HARDEST most awful thing to quit. But for me I wouldn’t stop til I was ready. Been 5 years and I’m still picking up the pieces of my life. It never ends really but it gets easier with time. Hang in there anyone watching this.
@@robertellis4715bullshit I quit cigarettes cold turkey as well. Nothing compares to the physical sickness from opiates or the mental sickness from benzodiazepines and I firmly believe that. The mind is a powerful machine if you allow it to be.
Sad to see one of my clients from the treatment center I worked at back on Methadone Mile in your video. Unfortunately going back happens far more often than not. I thank God every day for delivering me from the grips of fentanyl.
Brothah, as a Bostonian who watches Channel 5, thank you so much for shining a light on my people suffering out here. Addictions everywhere even in yuppy Beantown
Yeah man I lost a good friend that messed up after 19 years and many others. He was deep in recovery to. You just never know. It's literally like playing Russian roulette anymore.
I was a an opiate addict and got clean after being put on subutex in 2013. Helped me get my life back! Stopped the chase. Was able to get a good job and slowly start to heal. Made the mistake of staying with the guy I first started using with and he got me on meth two years into getting clean. Was heavily addicted to meth for the whole year and it was literally like my own personal living HELL, it was horrible. Finally got to my breaking point and left the dude, really got clean and got real with my relationship with God. Put Him first for almost a full year with no dating and then God rewarded me with an amazing man! We now have a baby together and life is beautiful! ❤️
im from little ol Cincinnati Ohio, people come here to buy dope from Kentucky, Indiana even West Virginia everyday, you'll see them waiting at the corner stores, in parking lots etc, im talking 30-40 cars at a time... , westside, we just had 176 overdoses in 48 hours . this wasn't the whole city but just in our little neighborhood, the city had to call for help from surrounding districts and surrounding suburbs. All kinds of folks on this stuff, from pretty women f all colors, to the handsome black dude with muscles and gold teeth and tatoos, lol that most people from the suburbs wouldn't believe was drug users. We got this one lady, Asain lady whos a dentist, shes sitting out in the parking lot every morning in one of her two Lexus's waiting to copp her fett, she also smokes hard too. like why she dont just copp a bunch at once ill never know, like??? to people actually enjoy coming to the hood to copp everyday? sometimes multiple times a day, i dont get it.... Most opiate dependent people i know spend at least $80 a day just to sleep at night, just to barley stay well. Fentanyl isnt euporic like other opiates, thats why i dont believe these mfs who saay they spend hundreds a day just on fentanyl, like why? whats the point , if they really were their tolerance would be to hiigh to get high anyway. i been doing opiates over a decade and haven't been "high" in years, most people who come down here to get fetty admit it dont get them high anymore. they have to mix it with other strong opiates to feel anything. here in Cincinnati they wont even give you opiates at the hospital anymore. last time i went i had a broken collar bone, fractured ribs and broken finger, they gave me a whopping 8 vicodin pills. thats 40 milligrams, not enough to get high once, so i had to do we dont have "blues" here, its just sold in powder or rocks... street fentanyl is really all we got for pain relief, the hospitals dont give anything anymore because how many opiate dependent people we have around here... So its like wtf.??? the government
@@ayten3617What I don't get it is how is it any better for folks to go score fentanyl versus taking a regulated untainted pain pill. If they get addicted get them on MAT immediately. Denying humans pain relief only makes this worse. So many people relying on fetty (if they are lucky) for pain management. Even little old ladies teaching fifth grade getting busted and when asked why "to control my RA pain." Medicine making a mess and then saying NO because they made a mess is a disgusting. That and the DEA doing Jack sh1t about illicit drugs but busting doctors left and right many caring for the most vulnerable among us. Something has to change. Humans will continue to use opiods forever. It's either unregulated poison enriching China and Mexico or regulated safe medication sold by American companies.
I'm 82+ months sober now from a 22+ year long heroin addiction...! I'M still on methadone, but am weening down to get off of it...! I own and operate three businesses and absolutely love sober life...!!! Thanks for sharing... Keep up your awesomeness...!
30-90 days until physical crap ends and your body's back to 'normal'... 12-36 months until your brain is working correctly again... All the chemicals in your brain(dopamine, serotonin, melatonin, etc.) are way outta whack when you're on opiods...! Get sober today...!!!
I’ve been on methadone since 2015 after years of abusing prescription pain pills. Thank goodness I never used the crap that’s on the streets now. It scares me. As long as I’m on methadone, I’m not in pain, I function well, I’m a good mom, & I know I won’t relapse. No shame in being on methadone. Some of us are just better off staying on it.
YES BROOO BOSTON ON THE MAP not for the best reason but im glad you came by and shined light on one of our worst issues in boston the more ppl know the more ppl can get help i hope everyone has the chance, love what you’re doing
8 years sober from H... I'm 39 I did 2 tores in TDCJ and now I'm a supervisor for a big company married and living life on life's turms. It's still hard to this day but it's definitely possible... A man that can kennel down to God can stand up to anything
Thank you for making this, really well done. I live in Lowell, clean many years, successful job, mt bike, bought a condo. It can be done. I have gone to meetings but didn't know about the recovery cafe. You've motivated me to get out and give back, so thanks.
Seeing you promote mental health awareness for men instead of a ballshaver or some fantasy picks in this time of the year really shows where your head is and its clearly for the community, Always proud to support this.
I get your point but unfortunately prize picks is straight forward you understand your gambling and ball trimmers are needed aswell now when we talk about better help it’s a different convo. U might as well open up a free hotline and hire randoms to talk to other randoms with problems, u will probably get better results.
As a person in recovery, and a Methadone patient for over 10 years…this is a great video. Methadone saved my life. Yes, I’m addicted to methadone. But this addiction doesn’t make me a shitty person. I don’t steal and lie to family on methadone. Methadone is a great option for people who don’t have any options left. The stigma around methadone is still fairly negative. I’m also a veteran and get my methadone from the VA. I don’t really stand in long lines. I feel lucky in that regard. Thanks for the video Tommy and for bringing the attention to this situation.
Screw anyone trying to make you feel guilty - they are the ones in the wrong and have no idea what it like for you am sure. You are doing what you need to do. Use the time for something positive (start business, family etc)
I'm a veteran as well. I used methadone as well but I kept being a junkie and stacked dope on top. This was before fentanyl coming along. Suboxone was what helped me. It took away the knowledge I can use on top. I hope all yall are living your life and doing well. We need to live, not just exist.
i dont steal or lie to on fentanyl, been opiate dependent for over 12 years im now just turned 35 and never wanted to get clean more than i do now. these drugs here in Cincinnati, or the Midwest in general are so dirty, even the fentanyl isnt clean, its cut with other things that will have withdrawal effects like xylazine, blood pressure meds, benzos etc. just random concoctions with the smallest bit of fett, just to keep the feins well and money coming in. even when the fett was clean it stil didnt get me "high", it only takes the sickness away no matter how much i do. at one point when my tolerance was the highest i was using a eighth of fett every other day along with 15 - 20 100mg extended release Morphine pills, because the fentanyl wouldn't last long enough to keep me sleep all night, like id HAVE to pop at LEAST 10 100mg of morphine on top of a half gram of fett right b4 bed just to sleep for 8 hrs. its crazy these drugs are getting dirtier and dirtier, like now, with all this crap in it you feel your heart pounding like crazy before the withdrawals even set in...its deadly now to NOT do the drugs your addicted to or physiclly dependant on . and its messed up because people dont even know everything they're physically addicted to, that is IF youre buying off the street
I just wanted to say, methadone has given me the opportunity to change my life around. I was smoking and shooting up coke, crack, and heroin daily. In 2019 i learned about methadone and by spring time next year i will finally be graduating from my clinic.
where was you getting heroin in 2019, couldn't have been in the Midwest. unless you got it from the internet or had a heck of a plug, once it started getting scarce here in Cincinnati was when the US government left the middle east and fentanyl took over... fentanyl was $80 a gram and the heroin went from $120-$140 to like $180-$250 a gram because it was so scarce. ive never met a opiate dependent person who preferred fentanyl to heroin, its stronger but wayyyyy less euphoric and has no legs meaning you get sick much faster. Now the dope isnt even fentanyl, it has the smallest amount of fett, the rest is xylazine (cat tranqulizer) benzos, and blood pressure meds, its crazy... i know several old heroin dealers who stopped selling because they know hhow dirty it is, they have family , friends, neighbors on this stuff, no way they wana sell it to them, its actually literal poison now... like seriously even before your withdrawl kicks in your heart feels like its going to explode, folks go into hypertensive crisis every single time it starts to wear off.... its crazy...
Thank you bro for shining a light on the issue again. I used to get high out in these streets, I lost my best out here.. I’m blessed to be where I am today but it’s been a LONG road. Praying for everyone still out there running and for the families because addiction affects everyone. Thank you to all those who work in the field, truly with peoples best interest in mind. Addiction is no way to live a life. Did the whole halfway house thing and everyone
Born and raised in Boston and I became an addict in 2000 and I got clean in 2007, October. Its now 2024 and I'm still clean. I did not do the program, I just decided it was time to stop using opiates. It's all up to you! How bad do you want it? I tried meetings and all it did was remind me of all the bad things i did while doing drugs, it wasn't for me, actually i don't understand why people need to go to meetings every day. If you want to stop then you stop, no meeting will fix you. hearing another drug story isn't going to make you stop using, Its all up to you!!
As a native Bostonian and recovering addict, I'm very happy to see you shedding more light on the opiate epidemic that has plagued Boston heavily since 2010. Would love to somehow meet ya Tommy, would you consider a fan meetup in Boston while you're out here man?
im from little ol Cincinnati Ohio, people come here to buy dope from Kentucky, Indiana even West Virginia everyday, you'll see them waiting at the corner stores, in parking lots etc, im talking 30-40 cars at a time... , westside, we just had 176 overdoses in 48 hours . this wasn't the whole city but just in our little neighborhood, the city had to call for help from surrounding districts and surrounding suburbs. All kinds of folks on this stuff, from pretty women f all colors, to the handsome black dude with muscles and gold teeth and tatoos, lol that most people from the suburbs wouldn't believe was drug users. We got this one lady, Asain lady whos a dentist, shes sitting out in the parking lot every morning in one of her two Lexus's waiting to copp her fett, she also smokes hard too. like why she dont just copp a bunch at once ill never know, like??? to people actually enjoy coming to the hood to copp everyday? sometimes multiple times a day, i dont get it.... Most opiate dependent people i know spend at least $80 a day just to sleep at night, just to barley stay well. Fentanyl isnt euporic like other opiates, thats why i dont believe these mfs who saay they spend hundreds a day just on fentanyl, like why? whats the point , if they really were their tolerance would be to hiigh to get high anyway. i been doing opiates over a decade and haven't been "high" in years, most people who come down here to get fetty admit it dont get them high anymore. they have to mix it with other strong opiates to feel anything. here in Cincinnati they wont even give you opiates at the hospital anymore. last time i went i had a broken collar bone, fractured ribs and broken finger, they gave me a whopping 8 vicodin pills. thats 40 milligrams, not enough to get high once, so i had to do we dont have "blues" here, its just sold in powder or rocks... street fentanyl is really all we got for pain relief, the hospitals dont give anything anymore because how many opiate dependent people we have around here... So its like wtf.??? the government
I got 3 years sober coming up December 7th .. from fentanyl cocaine and benzos!! It’s way better on this side !! Big love and respect from Baltimore Maryland !
I’ve lived in Boston my entire life once they knocked down the bridge to Long Island in Quincy MA there was a big influx of people that starting coming over. In general mass Ave has always had an issue prior to the bridge being knocked down but once they started setting up “safe zones” where Boston cops would monitor it was an even worse open air drug market in there with zero repercussions. In 2017 once meth started hitting the streets that’s when you’d see the erratic behavior start to spiral even more. Feel bad for the people down there I have life long friends and family that are down there and once you start ripping and running down there it’s so hard to get out of it. Thanks Tommy G for shedding some light on this thank Mayor Wu and her bs tactics to “combat” it they she would have them move from “safe area” to safe area all around the vicinity from Topeka Street, Atkinson street to Melnea Cass
Mayor Wu wanted to clean up awhile ago but coalition for the homeless kept threatening to sue her. They said if she provided housing/shelter they wouldn't sue. Well she did but there's no expectation for them to be clean. And 90% of the people aren't even from Boston but our services are going to them
I'm assuming you're from Southie from your screen name, I am too. I've lost so many loved ones from overdoses. We have been through so much as a community ♥️
I work as a substance abuse counselor for a methadone clinic, and I believe it is one of the best (and only) avenues for recovery for many people. The negative side is when methadone clinics are treated as merely an income based thing, where minimum staff involvement and care is done and not holding patients accountable. Some people use it as a crutch inbetween getting high so they dont feel sick, which is harm reduction for sure but isnt helping in the long term. Im grateful that the clinic i work at does its due diligence to push patients to strive for more, and hold then accountable to their sobriety.
Agreed. I've been on the clinic a long time. It helps so many... it sucks a lot, having to go there and stuff. But the day I signed up for help... I was homeless with nothing. Now I can hold a job, apartment, hobbies, all that. It's been like 15 years.. Kicking fett cold turkey is hell. The clinics help alot
I work in a residential treatment center on thursdays and i love it because patients are regularly tested and held accountable as well as always documented when leaving and returning premises and bag checks. Some still run away but many stick around because of the inhouse methadone. Many of my clients have recovered
@Bostonmerch hmm I'm not completely sure, i have had a patient listed as First Name Unknown (last name), so you might be able to. i will say HIPAA laws will protect you and your information wont be plastered everywhere. what would giving your name do to harm you?
@@nnack1 you’re right. Plus the real challenge would be filling the prescription at a pharmacy (unless the clinics actually give you the medicine). I don’t want a medical record of it
"these people are people" and "some of them are the nicest people youll ever meet" is so fucking true and its fucked so many people just think they're "addicts". lost my brother who was a field biologist and he was fkn amazing.
Same with politics too People absolutely rag on each other because they’re democrat or republican. We’re American and above all we’re people. We’ll never have world peace unless we start viewing each other as such. Doesn’t matter who the president is if we can’t even see our neighbors as human. Doesn’t matter who the president is if they can’t see us as human. We need to stop putting people in boxes and stop hating boxes. That’s why drugs become so bad. You’re demonized for doing them and people don’t help and avoid. Which makes you rely on the drugs even more instead of the people around you. It’s absolutely fkn sad. And not even just drugs. We’re more and more divided by EVERYTHING now. Drugs politics religion skin etc etc like wtf dude we’re human first yet we prioritize the artificial over everything. Politics are made by humans drugs are made by humans religion is made by humans yet we don’t value humans.
So sorry. Devastating to lose one, but both? No words. Fentanyl changed the addiction scene. It’s harder to dig yourself out and the risk of overdosing is higher.
I am so very sorry, that you lost your babies. This is a club that no one should be apart of😢😢😔🌹❤️I will be Praying to our Heavenly Father for your peace, and strength 😢
I’m part of a Facebook group for the missing on Mass Ave. It’s so sad how frequently family members post on there hoping someone has seen or heard from a family member. It’s been particularly bad there the last 7 years and the city has done shit. All ideas 🗑️. Though there are some great citizens helping them & risking their safety. Thanks Tommy G for covering 💪🏽
That FB group found my cousin and I’m forever grateful. Everyone on that page does all they can to keep us connected to our loved ones (and they do the hard job of notifying families when they don’t make it) I swear that group is full of modern saints
I remember fenty touched down like 2014/2015ish and a bunch of people I knew died. It’s crazy how fast shit progressed since then. Mass Ave is zombie land now
@@TommyGMcGeethey are a scam company, they had a major controversy a few years back and their therapists have been proved to be remote workers in India with no verifiable credentials
Great episode. That’s my city. Born and raised in Lowell, Ma. I’ve lived here all my life. It’s good to see these men help our fellow brothers and sisters. I also have lost many friends to addiction. I also want to congratulate all who are recovered or are in recovery. Can’t wait to see your episode on big pharma. ❤
Im on 180mg methadone it has helped me a lot. It had such a bad stigma i was afraid but glad i started. My bro died of od in 2012 several friends too. God keeps some of us here to learn and hopefully teach.
Thank you for sharing! I've also been on the program for about 12 years this time and about 4 years back in 2002. It isn't the perfect answer but it sure as fuk is better than the other stuff. And it can enable a person to get some control in their life and I mean I've gone back to school, had a child at an amazing things I've had a pardon for my criminal record I've had a business. And I wouldn't have been able to do it without this program
“noted that for opioid-naive adults, the estimated lethal dose can be around 30 to 50 milligrams, while for opioid-tolerant adults, it may exceed 120-200 milligrams.” When the dose will take out a typical non opiate tolerant adult by damn 4-6 times the amount you’re taking it’s time to take a look around
Im living on the south shore as a teen. My first time on mass ave was a few months back. I’m not used to seeing that stuff. Absolutely shocking to me. Prayers to all families affected.
@@Andrew_Davidson1357 Yup, notice how its more sad compared to other videos in different cities. I was watching this saying to myself he shouldve gotten bean shooter in the vid, and boom the shoota comes up🤣
My old elementary school is directly next to this wasteland the playground the children play had needles. I remember it getting so bad the school was shut down for a day, to get the city to do something about it. I hope things get better!
I live half hour south of Boston. I’m a teen. I went to mass ave for the first time a few months back. Absolutely shocking for a prep kid of the south shore. I’m sorry you had to see that at such a young age. Prayers to all who are involved.
I’ve been on suboxne for almost 8 years and it’s what has saved my life. I’ve never relapsed and I tried getting clean before with out anything and I would not last a day after getting out of rehab
Methadone patient here , also 5 years sober . The problem with methadone is that if you get on it and aren’t working some type of program, whatever that may be as well , you’re going to see what you’re seeing at the clinics . A lot of people choose to get on methadone who are o the streets so they can begin their day without being dopesick and then can move on to their daily hustles to get their fix . Something you don’t hear often about methadone too people should know is it has been proven that doses over 90mg actually have a blocking effect for other opiates . So you can’t get high even if you wanted . All that being said it definitely saves lives too. It saved mine . Sadly I would say I’m not the majority but it has the possibility to really save lives.
The methadone clinics here in Cincinnati are a JOKE, if you have a life to live, like a JOB, and things to do its ridiculous.!!! you have to jump through so many hoops, and have to show up everyday spending about 2 hours there at least... like if you have a 1st shift job, forget about it.!, they WILL NOT WORK WITH YOU, they'll literally tell you that its either methadone or your job, not both, they don't open until 5:30 and you're going to be in there at LEAST a hour every time, even if youre one of the first 12 people in line, which you'd have to stand out side in the cold before 4 AM to get that up that far in the line. You cant fail your test even for LEGAL weed or you'll get cancelled, and IF you drank alcohol the night before and blow even .01 into the Breathalyzer, you wont get your dose that day.. Fentanyl isnt nearly as euphoric as other real opiates like Oxycontin 80's or Opanas (Oxymorphone) was, or even heroin... I've never met a opiate dependent person who preferred fentanyl over Heroin... its just all they can find and opiate withdrawal is terrible. I didn't sleep for 17 days last time i quit heroin, i became severely dehydrated and had two seizures and heart was in hypertensive crisis, i was just as sick on day 18 as i was on day 6, it was terrible. this crap isnt even fentanyl anymore, its xylazine mixed with benzos with blood pressure meds and all kinds of other crap mixed in with the smallest amount of fentanyl... Heroin use to be 100-140 a gram. then fentanyl was like $60-80 a gram, THIS new "fett" isnt even $50 a gram, its gross dirt.!!!! i will say, IMO heroin withdrawals are wayyy worse than fentanyl... BUT, this new stuff, EVEN WORSE, it'll make your head feel like its going to explode and you can feel your heart beating through your whole body, your heart goes into hypertensive crisis before you even get into full blown withdrawal... First the government abruptly took the pain pills away from people with legit prescriptions, then they made immediate release opiates illegal, which is when the government flooded the streets with heroin, then around 2015-2016 the heroin went away because our government left the middle east, and thats when the fentanyl took over.... i have a friend who was infantry Marine, he did 3 tours, 2 in the middle east, said all he did was take over poppy fields and hold down the poppy fields, said alot of Military was smoking opium over there and would be dope sick when they had to come home or whatever and ended up using at home in the states. OUR GOVERNMENT DID THIS.!!!
i go to boston almost every weekend cause i’m local via train and it’s crazy how some parts are very clean and thriving and these areas are just.. feels off the the map almost
Hey Tommy. Thanks for this video. I'm 4 years sober and at 16 I ended up going to the 3 months sober home called "project rebound" on that island off of Quincy. It was amazing I became embassador and did good.
Lowell born and raised and haven’t been home in a while and this brings back a piece of awareness that left behind. Thank you for spreading awareness about Bean town and Mill City ❤
Im 22 years old and as of last week i am officially 7 months sober from opioids and cocaine, i found methadone made me feel like a zombie 24/7 i had a much better time getting and staying sober once i switched to suboxone. Thank you for bringing awareness and compassion to everyone watching this video not just addicts themselves but family members of addicts too. My relationship with my family did a complete 180 once they were made aware of why and how my addiction was affecting me and i would say that was the most crucial part in my recovery because most of my trauma and issues arose from family anyways to anyone reading this thats struggling right now i promise you sobriety is worth it, its never to late to make that change❤
I thought the same thing. I’ve been on and off methadone and suboxone for most of my adult life and suboxone works the best and gets you the least narcotic effect once stabilized on it.
@@Patrickhashxpatty i find some people need methadone because of the way it makes you feel, i found that you still have that “opioid fog” feeling 24/7 without actually being high and i guess thats all some people need to get through their everyday life or else they crave an opioid high too much and either relapse or overdose on something much worse which is sad, i have friends that are sober and well now but have no motivation for themselves anymore because they feel like a zombie 24/7 from methadone and fall into depression because they feel like they are going no where in life which makes them want to use even more and thus the cycle repeats. I don’t wish this disease on my worst enemy, stay strong brother i wish you all the best✊🏽
I'm from the area and heard of "methadone mile" since I was a kid. I'm so glad you are finally giving these people the ability to share their experiences. The vast majority of them are good people who just got stuck in this life. Thank you for making this video, it is so important.
Im nearly 50 days clean from "just" heroin and i got no actual friends now bc i dropped them to get clean. And idk i just wrote this hoping someone would tell me that hes proud of me
Hey homie we are all proud ... keep it going..never give in. Never give up no matter how hard it gets because it only makes you stronger. For me personally the thought of everything that came with addiction over powers how good it felt, well for that 20 minutes if lucky 😂..., i can't feel good enough to make me want that life again ...not to mention legal issues and the law and again in that same sense , doesn't matter how hard it gets
I had to do the same thing man to get clean but in the end it was worth it, because whats better bro, having a sober happy healthy life? Or be high all the time battling that vicious cycle, worrying where my next hit is guna come from, i realised when i used i didnt have friends i had “drug acquaintances” they arent friends, i rather be sober and lonely than high with some fake ass friends near me
@@colin1348 ikr bro, them were no friends - in germany its called "Zweck Beziehung" like "Thing Relationship" - if you got stuff you got friends around, if not well then nobody is there but thats not the problem, beeing alone is easy for me it was just seeing all these comments with "im proud of you" and idk why but i wanted to hear it too i wish you the best bro 💪🏼
The island closing really messed so much up. The programs and shelter helped so much. The only detox that i went to and had any success with was on the island. I have 10 years clean now.
Thank you for spreading awareness for all of these people’s situations without humiliating them or dehumanizing them and neither glorifying or putting down the life of a drug addict. I feel like you really were able to show that addicts have a lot of demons in their lives, are hurting and do make many decisions they regret, but are still human like anybody else.
I used to work in Boston ~20 years ago. I'm sure there were homeless, but I never saw any, and I certainly never saw encampments like this, or "zombies". This country has steadily gone to shit in the last 23 years. It's embarrassing how far we've fallen.
The past 23 years... When "we, the u.s.a." started our mission to gain control of all the poppy feilds if afgan..... kinda crazy huh... almost seems like it was planned
Methadone saved my life. I abused prescription pain medication for years. Got on methadone in 2015 before all this fentanyl crap hit. MAT treatment can be great if you’re actually working a program & not just depending on the methadone.
As a kid who’s dad was addicted to herion and in prison and was able to get off of it this video was SO touching and beautiful! I pray for the people addicted to drugs it’s truly a disease 🙏❤️
Thank you for doing this Tommy.. A lot of Americans have no clue what its like in Boston.. I'm currently living in a half way house just outside of Boston and Mass Ave is very significant to pretty much anyone who has been affected by the drug epidemic in and around the Boston area.. I'm glad you are bringing awareness to these types of tragic or inspirational situations.. I've been living back and forth between Lynn, Roxbury and Dorchester all my life and I used to drop my mom off to work at Mass General thinking about how bad the methadone mile crisis has gotten without any real sign of getting better.. so to whoever is reading this : may God bless you and if you're one of the many victims of the disease of drug addiction please stay strong and keep faith!
Methadone can be useful. (I was addicted to pain pills, never had heroin or fentanyl). I found that it is more addicting than the pills. The problem is the clinics. You are their cash cow. They have counselors at most clinics. From my experience the clinics try to keep you hooked. They made me keep increasing my doses, saying that I need to get to a certain amount before going down. But there is no certain amount. They don’t try to get you off they try to keep you hooked.
Damn this hit hard. Back when I was well acquainted with my old friend Oxy, I used to sometimes walk up and down this area looking for my other friends Xany or Kpin since a lot of ppl in this area were acquainted with them and those two love to hang out with Oxy. Turned out Oxy, Kpin and Xany were all terrible friends and they really messed up my life for a while. Lucky I ended those friendships while I was still alive
The methadone clinics here in Cincinnati are a JOKE, if you have a life to live, like a JOB, and things to do its ridiculous.!!! you have to jump through so many hoops, and have to show up everyday spending about 2 hours there at least... like if you have a 1st shift job, forget about it.!, they WILL NOT WORK WITH YOU, they'll literally tell you that its either methadone or your job, not both, they don't open until 5:30 and you're going to be in there at LEAST a hour every time, even if youre one of the first 12 people in line, which you'd have to stand out side in the cold before 4 AM to get that up that far in the line. You cant fail your test even for LEGAL weed or you'll get cancelled, and IF you drank alcohol the night before and blow even .01 into the Breathalyzer, you wont get your dose that day.. Fentanyl isnt nearly as euphoric as other real opiates like Oxycontin 80's or Opanas (Oxymorphone) was, or even heroin... I've never met a opiate dependent person who preferred fentanyl over Heroin... its just all they can find and opiate withdrawal is terrible. I didn't sleep for 17 days last time i quit heroin, i became severely dehydrated and had two seizures and heart was in hypertensive crisis, i was just as sick on day 18 as i was on day 6, it was terrible. this crap isnt even fentanyl anymore, its xylazine mixed with benzos with blood pressure meds and all kinds of other crap mixed in with the smallest amount of fentanyl... Heroin use to be 100-140 a gram. then fentanyl was like $60-80 a gram, THIS new "fett" isnt even $50 a gram, its gross dirt.!!!! i will say, IMO heroin withdrawals are wayyy worse than fentanyl... BUT, this new stuff, EVEN WORSE, it'll make your head feel like its going to explode and you can feel your heart beating through your whole body, your heart goes into hypertensive crisis before you even get into full blown withdrawal... First the government abruptly took the pain pills away from people with legit prescriptions, then they made immediate release opiates illegal, which is when the government flooded the streets with heroin, then around 2015-2016 the heroin went away because our government left the middle east, and thats when the fentanyl took over.... i have a friend who was infantry Marine, he did 3 tours, 2 in the middle east, said all he did was take over poppy fields and hold down the poppy fields, said alot of Military was smoking opium over there and would be dope sick when they had to come home or whatever and ended up using at home in the states. OUR GOVERNMENT DID THIS.!!!
Thank you for taking the time to not only spread awareness but to do it in such a positive way. You gained an instant subscriber Tommy G. Keep up the good work brother. Videos like these help keep me sober and you doing it in my homestate was exactly what I needed to watch with my 1 year coming up. Its a nice reminder on how fast things can go south. Much love brother 🙏
bro you know what this reminds me of? the methadone thing? y’all remember JCS-Criminal Psychology? a youtube channel? his name was jim can’t swim criminal psychology and he made a legendary video idk if it’s still up of the white guy i forgot his name but he got locked up he was addicted to methadone and he drank coca cola and stuff and outsmarted the investigators. that video is legendary. does anyone know what i’m talking about?
I know exactly what video you're talking about! Its one kf my favorites! It was he was addicted to heroin and was asking for methadone from the jail to treat heroin withdrawals. He had prior criminal history, but they were accusing him of a robbery or something that he didn't do. They kept lying to him & telling him they had videos or proof he did it and he was like uh no way cause I didn't do this. They wantwd him to snitch on himself & gave him a coke thinking it would make him talk. "Wam bam thanks for the coke put me back in my cell"
1st - fix the bridge, get everyone over the bridge to Long island - 2nd - put shelters, food, and addiction / mental health help on the island - it’s a start
@AshleyCorrea-r3k yes, Long Island in Boston - that was the name of the island that the bridge in question connected to - you got on the bridge in Squantum over to the island.
I was a needle user of opiates for years. In and out of rehab, then I went to an ibogaine clinic in Mexico. Did the one time treatment and never had any withdrawals from opiates at all . I've been clean now for 8 years. Never crave want nor desire opiates now. How ibogaine works is it resets your brain receptors like you never even tried it .... Best choice I ever made! 💯💯
Was just in Vancouver today and walked past Louis Vuitton and there was someone smoking dope right in front of the door was such a crazy thing to witness But I totally agree! He would do an incredible video on Vancouver!
@@JoeyRoo it’s a crazy switch from rich to poor in the city it’s evil I have friends who have their learners with $300k McLaren 720s from daddy and friends who are on the verge of homeless
you can get high off of subs too and still get high just have to wait 24 hrs. It's a tool requires the person to actually want to stop using. Methadone also makes it harder for the person to overdose if they do happen to slip up which is a good thing. I am 5yrs clean now with the help of methadone of course it's not a one fit all solution.
@@u_can_find_drew wrong.! i duno what kind you were doing or what kinda opiate you was getting "high" off of, but in our experience, if you eat a sub or even subutex, you have to wait at LEAST 2-3 days before taking anything like a real opiate. they'll send you right into precipitated wd, that is IF you were actually opiate dependent to begin with, maybe you were a newbie.???? i was on opiates for over 12 years I'm now 34, i was using 3.5 grams of fentanyl on TOP of at LEAST 15-20 100mg morphine xrs a day... id do a half gram of fett and at least 1,000 mgs of morphine b4 bed every single night cuz the fett wouldn't keep me well long enough to sleep a whole 8 hrs.... just saying...
I‘m stoned from my first homegrown outdoor weed rn, eating ice cold nashi pears and fresh mango while realising you got a new video up, YESSS!!! Greetings from germany! 🔥
@@slick5894to be honest it‘s not a full legalisation. If you really want to smoke outdoors, you need to be very carefull. Staying away from kids, schools, playgrounds or preschool (which is 100% fine by me) in a big city is nearly impossible. If you living outside off big citys it‘s awesome! Smoking some clean stuff in the sommer while sitting at a lake is priceless. But most ppl only smoke in privat to avoid problems Growing your own stuff at home on the other hand is beyond awesome. Even with the restriction of only 3 plants (6 in total if you do 2 runs per year) is a blast. No more expensive unhealthy stuff from ppl you don‘t know and it‘s so much fun to grow your own stuff. I did it outdoors in the sun and the weed quality is beyond crazy. Getting a clean high is a big difference. If we ever getting shops and other things in the future: Big maybe. The next goverment will be a right wing party and they hate everything related to canabis. Only time will tell ✌️
This one is great. 627 days sober now. To anyone reading this and your struggling, I know it’s so fukkin hard. The worst part is the mental. Get your first 7days in. Then go another.. then another.. till you turn around and your a whole year. Remember what matters the most and push through it. You have people that care and love you.
I’ve gone to Boston probably around a dozen times this year, it’s heartbreaking how each time, I’m seeing more and more people on the street. Just lines of people man, the mayor needs to step up and help with the aftermath of the past and the tragedy of the present.
Methadone is just as dangerous, my mother got high as a kite everyday off methadone for years until it killed her. It’s just the government being the drug dealer instead of chef Twin
@@jonblaze333 same with Suboxone it can help get you off the opiates but you really shouldn’t substitute one for another. The problem is the government and drs try and keep you on those forever so they can keep making $$ off you.
@@jonblaze333 methadone helps? what? a broke opiate dependent person stay well.??? in that case yes youre correct... i used fentanyl for years, it helped me "stay well" when i couldn't find heroin when i ran out of my prescription Opanas and Oxycontin... i never got "high" off fentanyl, not in the 7 years i did it muliple times every single day.... $100 a day to sleep at night, or , half a night i should say... at one point i was doing 3.5 grams of fentanyl every 48 hrs, and on top of that eating 15-20 100mg morphine pills a day just to "get well", never on ce felt "high" or ANY opiate euphoria off that crap, not anything like heroin or Oxy codone, Oxymorphone or even Vicodin... just not euphoric at ALL, yes "stronger" but for no reason, itll just shoot your tolerance through the roof....this coming from someone who was opiate dependent for over 12 YEARS...prob had 25 dope sick days that entire time, including last time i tried quitting cold turkey, i didnt sleep for 17 nights, on day 18 i was just as sick or sicker than i was on day 6... only severely dehydrated with hypertensive crisis and i had two seizures.... anyway, glad methadone helped someone, like fentanyl helped me, to stay well and not get high, its the same thing as suboxone or methadone imo... but this stuff effects everyone differently so there's that...
@@GamingManiacManmy father was a victim of that in Connecticut. I’m sorry you’re going through that stuff there too. The companies need to be held accountable,but they won’t be. It’s almost ruined america
Shit I live just outside of Bangor and my dad is from Hartford Connecticut family still lives in Hartford and I feel safer walking around park ST than Bangor! My dad always said Maine was 20 years behind and boy wasn’t that right
Hey....I would let people know that going into rehab is not an end all beat all. You do not walk in the door and thirty days later walk out fixed. Its a lifelong journey. Its why we measure it in years. Mathematics is awesome. We need more champions like that
Mad props to Mathematics!! I met him when I lived in Boston. He is a solid dude that gets my respect in full for what he does for people that are struggling. I'm living back in Cali now and I can't forget how rough it can be in Boston, I couldn't imagine what people are going through who are addicted and living on the streets. They are as tough as they come for sure.
Look, I know this might not sit right with some people, but calling addiction a "disease" doesn't add up for me. To me, it’s a choice-every day you decide to either face life like everyone else or throw it away on substances. I've seen plenty of people struggle and deal with tough things, and not everyone turns to drugs. Sure, I get that trauma and stress make things harder, but that doesn’t suddenly turn addiction into some unavoidable disease. It’s about willpower. I think calling addiction a disease is an excuse for people to dodge accountability. It's a way to say, "Well, it’s out of my hands," and I don’t buy it. Some addicts have done terrible things-hurt family, stolen from friends-all while claiming they’re "sick." At the end of the day, I see it as mind over matter. If you really want to stop, you’ll find a way. Making it into a “disease” just gives people a free pass to repeat their mistakes without ever truly taking responsibility thats my only thing i disagree with when the guy said its disease to us.
That's silly in my opinion. Very few addicts would choose to continue that life. You think they wake up every day and don't think they wish they could stop? That's like saying depression is a choice and you should just choose to be happy. It doesn't work that way.
@@rebeccazeman9309 you have a brain right? you make the choice to do drugs you dont have choice weather you're depressed or not you have a choice to do drugs or not and i have no sympathy for those who have the will power to get help but choice not to it so its not silly when its a choice unlike depression or other mental health issues so again its just a cop out to do drugs and ruin your life but you do you boo
@Jakku_4k I actually don't do drugs but I do have sympathy for those stuck in auction. Plenty of people do drugs but don't get addicted. Choosing to do the drug or alcohol or even cigarettes is a choice but none of them do that bc they want to get addicted. No one addicted actually wants their life to be that way. Diabetes is often caused by a poor diet which is def a choice but it's still a disease. Lung cancer is often caused by cigarettes which are also a choice to do. The amount of people who say they've tried to quit cigarettes and can't is crazy to me. And considering how much we know about how terrible cigarettes are for you idk why anyone chooses to try them but tons of people do. Same thing with alcohol. Plenty of people have a drink with friends or at a work function and some people have no issue with it and others fall deep into addiction. Or what about the people who had a horrific accident and then became addicted to medication? Or awful anxiety and then became addicted to the medication? Is that also a choice?
@@Jakku_4kthe problem becomes a little more complex if you look at the situations that lead to addiction and trying to stop. Let's take the fact that many of these street drugs are designed to keep you hooked and even kill you if you try to stop. Mental wants become physical ones. It's your subconscious telling you that if you stop you'll literally die. Because you have a pretty decent chance if you actually do because of your body's dependence on them.
I'm in Cali and was hooked on pain killers for 12 years taken over 100 10 mg pills a day at my worst I went to a methadone clinic and got help its crazy how many people say that methadone is just as bad because it does work if you are really trying to get clean! I spent 3 years at the methadone clinic and then dosed off of it and now been sober 5 years and loving life
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You gotta go to the other citys around Boston, Newbedford, Brockton, Springfield thats where the real happens the shit in Boston is just exiles making moves half the city playboys
did u enjoy the smell
@@Spooky-4000that makes sense, most people there aren't even from Boston, nvm Dorchester or roxbury.
96 days clean from 4 year fentynal addiction. I feel amazing and life Is 10000 times better being sober.
4 more days and that's triple digits, big congrats to you🤜
Keep it up, sincerely from NH!
Just passed 3 years clean off the needle and hard drugs Oct 11th for me.. congrats 9n your 96 days keep going 💪
@@Quincyhk hell yeah!! Let's go
keep going brother...it keeps getting better and better! congrats
I went to the halfway house called “the hope house” which is right around the block from there. With 150 men it was the toughest area not only to get clean but to stay in a positive path with that many men in one place getting clean. I was 1 of 3 people who graduated and kept my head down while walking to work and walking home from work. Seen people overdose and worse over my time being there. I’m proud to say I’m 11 1/2 yrs clean and only had to do a program once and beat all the odds that were against me. It’s was the toughest thing I ever did but I was having a kid and that child didn’t ask to be here so I stepped up like I should have. I have so much respect for those out there trying to lend a helping hand and give back.
I know hope house lmao
my friend went there. everyone called it the dope house 😭
They just showed the hope house in like the first 5 minutes lol
You are doing the best, most brave work! Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for sharing how great your life is as the intro to showing addicts suffering 🙄
From Boston, 4 years clean, TODAY. This video hits close to home. Thank you for your video
4 years is amazing, congrats on taking care of yourself. 🌹🙏🏼 ☮
Congratulations! Keep GOING.
That is such great news! I love you and am glad that you're alive!
Congratulations but it’s funny how he thinks he’s spreading awareness then blocks the drug dealers identity. He’s scum.
Rounding the 2 year mark myself. How have you found years 2-4?
My sister is 9 months clean in a few days! I love seeing others helping those who cannot do it alone. I’ve been my sisters biggest supporter. Thanks for being you
It shows you never been harrarssed spite on and assaulted by some who belong in this vidio
@@susanosborne8918I'm guessing that you are referring to junkies who have done bad things to you while trying to help them? I definitely believe it, but there's still some of them who can be helped . Unfortunately the bad ones make it harder for the others who are more receptive to help
@@susanosborne8918 have u?
Well done for loving your sister when she struggles to love herself. I kicked a 28 year heroin addict 3 years ago and could not have done it without out love and support ❤❤❤❤❤
Congratulations I lost my brother
Man something about that woman's answer, "I'm blessed" and the tone she said it in made me check myself and give thanks for all that I have in my life whether it's wanted or not. I'm blessed.
I feel you
Truth
Hallelujah brother 4 peace be upon you and your family blessings from Dublin Ireland bro 🇮🇪💯
10:35 that lady doing all that for these people with nothing more than the hope of seeing a smile and possibly finding her family members is both heartwarming and breaking at the same time
"She didn't cry at his funeral.
I miss my brother every day. "
Listen to the humanity.
Good bless you family
shes GNA get outta that lifestyle. pray for her..
yeah that one hit me in the feels…
God bless herI couldn’t imagine
please do not conflate empathy with humanity, like a modern science fiction flick.
humanity encompasses all behaviors that humans are capable of and do. it's not always hugs and lollipops and furry walls.
"humane behavior" is more accurate.
Been Clean since Feb 2010 Born and raised in Boston. Still here. It is hard work to get clean not easy. It is fight everyday of my life even now. I appreciate the great work you are doing to help inform the city. Much Love. Love and Peace.
Good luck mate. Much love from Italy.
Fentanyl addict here. I got hooked on opiates when I was 7 years old from sexual abuse and physical abuse. Started with liquid hydrocodone prescribed for my broken fingers, ended up heavy on fentanyl. I can officially say I’m coming up on 5 years clean cold turkey (I’m 34 years old) and I couldn’t be more fucking grateful I made it out alive. Just buried my best friend from an OD about 3 weeks ago. Just know all of you struggling, it is absolutely possible and stop cutting yourself short by saying you can’t get clean. You fucking CAN and you will. CRAVE sobriety and a good life the same way you crave a high. Praying for you all
congrats brother proud of you
@@augustwww3205I genuinely appreciate and I just hope that people struggling can see how beautiful it is on the other side. So hype to see a spotlight on this stuff
Seriously you have to crave a better life and think of a life beyond drugs or it won’t happen…living proof
Stay strong
@@evolveausevolveausthere’s no other option man I have three beautiful healthy children nowadays relying on me and my sobriety and bringing home the bacon! There is no going back unless I want to jeopardize the wellbeing of 4 people and I’d rather die than do that! No turning back I swear by it 💪
I grew up outside of Boston up on the Northshore . August 6th 2019 is also my clean date just got back into contact with my sister and nephew that I haven't spoken to in 11 years. I am truly blessed.
I’m a teenager living in the south shore. While in Boston, I was driving past meth mile. Worst thing I’ve ever seen. Prayers to all families involved.
stay blessed brother please keep fighting the good fight and more blessings will come ❤🩹
Keep on the right track
I’m south of boston
Congrat's on the 5yrs myguy,. Thas f'n amazing👍🙂👍
God dang thank you for that last comment. I’ve been sober since March from fentanyl. My kids don’t know it cause they’re too young, yet they’re why I quit. My wife seems to forget it’s still a struggle, but she’s why I quit. The only person who seems to think about it every day is me, and I want this SO bad so I know I got this. Thank you for saying hang in there. Haven’t heard it in months and it broke me down in tears in a good way. Much love Tommy!
You've got it bro. No shame in going to a NA meeting either if you're feeling alone
Hang in there brother, I'm a recovering opioid addict it was rough but it's absolutely worth it. Stay strong my brother much love from Southern Virginia 🙏🏻
You can do this! You ARE doing it! Sobriety is the way! I've got 13 yrs coming up on 14! Keep hanging there!
You got this!! And you are not alone. Cry out for God and He will answer. ✨🤍
U can do this buddy!! Just keep all the reasons why u decided to stop at the forefront of ur brain. It’s also a brain disease as well as physical, mental, emotional. & hopefully ur wife comes around she’s prob got a lot of her mind too. Maybe some meetings would help too. Wishing u all the luck in the world🎉
Appreciate the time and Love that went In to making this video.Let the Truth Talk Prayers Up!
Sober since 12/23/22. Great video Tommy. Anyone struggling it’s possible to recover . Was sleepin in my car less than 2 years ago. Got a great job, peace of mind, a girlfriend, a place to stay. I get to buy myself things instead of every $$ going to get high. I believe in anyone struggling, you got this
Something I wanna say too which is CRAZY. I did fentanyl but I always sniffed it I was scared of needles. People who are in recovery joke that I “wasted” it. That shows how much of a fucking grip it has on people. To think there’s a way to “waste” it 🤦🏻♂️
AND BEANSHOOTERS IN THE VIDEO 🔥🔥
Get ready bud… this is where it gets tough
@@insidejob6961don’t burden him with that man. I’m pushing 5 years clean, two beautiful children. If we go back to that, we are fucking DEAD and we will destroy lives, and that’s a fact. There’s no going back when you get His blessings. This OP is going to succeed and with flying colors. Put some faith in us!
This nigga don’t care about recovery or addiction bro he’s just using it for clicks like mfs use to get high
I've been through the addiction gamut. I know what its like to stand in lines at methadone clinics at 5am. I know what its like to have a doctor tell me if I don't stop firing in a spot I'll lose a hand or fingers. Been to the rehabs and psych wards let down everyone that meant something to me. But I've been clean now 13 years, get help people, its never too late. 😎🙏
Thanks Tommy for showing people the real addiction.
Great testimony.
I used to sell dilaudid, got strung out, got clean in silence, and stopped selling it. That was about 12 or 13 years ago. Opioids are fucking poison. Glad you got clean, buddy. You're right, never too late.
Damn here in Germany we have fixed times where we can get it but I have a job and never was homeless just got hooked on oxy because in Europe you still get the real ones easily 80mg
Congratulations! I wish I could get clean. I've been using for coming on 11 years now. Was H to start. Now it's been Fent since 2016. I can no longer IV. I just went to the hospital for a kidney infection that was taking my life. I got in the ambulance & the 2 EMTs tried getting an iv. I said, "Good luck!". They scoffed like, " 🙄 We're professionals. We do this all day! We got this under control. " They weren't able to get a vein, though, after a couple of trys. Then I'm at the ER from 3 pm to 1 AM & they did not stop trying since I got there. 10 different nurses came in, & used an ultrasound machine. Even a couple of them they called up from their labs dept. They never did get any b|○○d or IV. I was probably stuck about 20 times or more. Now, I boof it.
@lolsoos4205 in England we have a methadone epidemic. Seriously though my two neighbours are on it . I'm on it have been for 23 years . They are quick to put folks on methadone here . I get mine twice a week 80mg a day . If your still using they make u come in everyday .
i’m from boston and my mother is an addict still i seen her in the vid man and this whole city is ignored and we need way more work to put a end to drugs in our streets it’s so sad seeing the stuff in the video thank you tommy g for coming out here and hopefully this can make people help more for our city☘️☘️
Praying for your mother and you
Go to other cities and states and you’ll see that Boston has plenty of resources that others don’t. It’s up to the individual, you have to have the desire to stop using
@@eclecticsoul2514why would she do that? She doesn’t have to. She just watched her mother in this video do you think flapping your gums under her comment about how “other places have it worse?” Helps her at all? No.
I hope you’re doing okay 🤍
praying for her & the city gang
our whole country is suffering from this shit
@@casey5683bro stfu. He's saying there's resources here while youre saying the city needs to do something when in fact the city did do something they cleaned up and methadone mi. It's not like it used to be
Bostonian born and raised. Every time I have to go to that area it breaks my heart and makes me want to cry. It’s just a bunch of people so visibly hurting
Where?
@@avoidantbehavior
She means Mass Ave or Melnea Cass Blvd.
I feel you 100. I stumbled upon the area for my first time last summer. They were all out that day. I felt like I just got hit with a wave of overwhelming sadness. You drive past and just see what feels like miles upon miles of wayward souls littering the sidewalk.
@@avoidantbehavior mass ave off the highway. Where boston medical is
@@jessicanav0 fair enough
as someone from Boston, this was one of your absolute best videos Tommy. I spend a ton of time on MASS AVE because of tech stuff ironically, many of the addicts are great people, just dealt a hard life with no help.
Fact I've been eaten up and spit our by mass Ave lucky I even survived tbh
@@justinjerin413 happy to hear your doing well man.
With all due respect, if they're "great people" try using person first language. The term "addict" is dehumanizing and stigmatizing. Try using "People Who Use Drugs" (PWUD) or "substance users". Dr. Sarah Wakeman, Sr. Medical Director of the Substance Use Disorder Initiative at Mass. General, has some great videos on it
@@juanesteban8827 I didn't mention either of those terms, no sense on getting stuck on theyisms. They" are just people.
@juanesteban8827 nah I am addict. Lol we're addicts. 8yrs clean
We don't need to start changing the terminology..we ain't offended
Bless that lady feeding the people - helps me keep hope in humanity ❣️
I’m 5 years sober from fentanyl and meth. I’m 34 now doing well. It’s literally the HARDEST most awful thing to quit. But for me I wouldn’t stop til I was ready. Been 5 years and I’m still picking up the pieces of my life. It never ends really but it gets easier with time. Hang in there anyone watching this.
@@robertellis4715 lol no
@robertellis4715 common lie. I have detoxed unfortunately from xanax, heroin and cigarettes. Cigarettes ain't shit compared to the other 2
Brother I’m pushing 5 years clean from fet and Xanax cold turkey in February!!! I’m also 34! It’s never too late pimpin we in our prime 💪
@@robertellis4715bullshit I quit cigarettes cold turkey as well. Nothing compares to the physical sickness from opiates or the mental sickness from benzodiazepines and I firmly believe that. The mind is a powerful machine if you allow it to be.
@@robertellis4715 Have you been addicted to or withdrawn from Benzos or Opiates?
Sad to see one of my clients from the treatment center I worked at back on Methadone Mile in your video. Unfortunately going back happens far more often than not. I thank God every day for delivering me from the grips of fentanyl.
Let's go Megan, the devil can fk his mother you're with us. Rootin for you.
Brothah, as a Bostonian who watches Channel 5, thank you so much for shining a light on my people suffering out here. Addictions everywhere even in yuppy Beantown
42 days off methadone. From Indianapolis. Through AA I feel the best I ever have. Thank God
Congrats brotha that's huge🤜
Congrats! I used to go to the place on Keystone years ago. Glad you overcame and are doing great!
stay strong!
Congrats man keep up the good work
How long did it take you to taper off
6 years sober, used to live on mile, lost my twin brother last year to that fucking place. RIP JMR 1/7/84 5/19/23
I'm so sorry for your loss
Yeah man I lost a good friend that messed up after 19 years and many others. He was deep in recovery to. You just never know. It's literally like playing Russian roulette anymore.
Fuck dude I’m so sorry for your loss
💔🙏🏼 ☮
I was a an opiate addict and got clean after being put on subutex in 2013. Helped me get my life back! Stopped the chase. Was able to get a good job and slowly start to heal. Made the mistake of staying with the guy I first started using with and he got me on meth two years into getting clean. Was heavily addicted to meth for the whole year and it was literally like my own personal living HELL, it was horrible. Finally got to my breaking point and left the dude, really got clean and got real with my relationship with God. Put Him first for almost a full year with no dating and then God rewarded me with an amazing man! We now have a baby together and life is beautiful! ❤️
Congratulations! You deserve all the best! ✌️❤️
im from little ol Cincinnati Ohio, people come here to buy dope from Kentucky, Indiana even West Virginia everyday, you'll see them waiting at the corner stores, in parking lots etc, im talking 30-40 cars at a time... , westside, we just had 176 overdoses in 48 hours . this wasn't the whole city but just in our little neighborhood, the city had to call for help from surrounding districts and surrounding suburbs. All kinds of folks on this stuff, from pretty women f all colors, to the handsome black dude with muscles and gold teeth and tatoos, lol that most people from the suburbs wouldn't believe was drug users. We got this one lady, Asain lady whos a dentist, shes sitting out in the parking lot every morning in one of her two Lexus's waiting to copp her fett, she also smokes hard too. like why she dont just copp a bunch at once ill never know, like??? to people actually enjoy coming to the hood to copp everyday? sometimes multiple times a day, i dont get it.... Most opiate dependent people i know spend at least $80 a day just to sleep at night, just to barley stay well. Fentanyl isnt euporic like other opiates, thats why i dont believe these mfs who saay they spend hundreds a day just on fentanyl, like why? whats the point , if they really were their tolerance would be to hiigh to get high anyway. i been doing opiates over a decade and haven't been "high" in years, most people who come down here to get fetty admit it dont get them high anymore. they have to mix it with other strong opiates to feel anything. here in Cincinnati they wont even give you opiates at the hospital anymore. last time i went i had a broken collar bone, fractured ribs and broken finger, they gave me a whopping 8 vicodin pills. thats 40 milligrams, not enough to get high once, so i had to do we dont have "blues" here, its just sold in powder or rocks... street fentanyl is really all we got for pain relief, the hospitals dont give anything anymore because how many opiate dependent people we have around here... So its like wtf.??? the government
@@ayten3617What I don't get it is how is it any better for folks to go score fentanyl versus taking a regulated untainted pain pill. If they get addicted get them on MAT immediately. Denying humans pain relief only makes this worse. So many people relying on fetty (if they are lucky) for pain management. Even little old ladies teaching fifth grade getting busted and when asked why "to control my RA pain." Medicine making a mess and then saying NO because they made a mess is a disgusting. That and the DEA doing Jack sh1t about illicit drugs but busting doctors left and right many caring for the most vulnerable among us. Something has to change. Humans will continue to use opiods forever. It's either unregulated poison enriching China and Mexico or regulated safe medication sold by American companies.
I'm 82+ months sober now from a 22+ year long heroin addiction...! I'M still on methadone, but am weening down to get off of it...! I own and operate three businesses and absolutely love sober life...!!! Thanks for sharing... Keep up your awesomeness...!
30-90 days until physical crap ends and your body's back to 'normal'... 12-36 months until your brain is working correctly again... All the chemicals in your brain(dopamine, serotonin, melatonin, etc.) are way outta whack when you're on opiods...! Get sober today...!!!
If you're still on methadone how is that considered "sober"
@@hisroyalhighness8566Go Away!
@@hisroyalhighness8566 ...
I’ve been on methadone since 2015 after years of abusing prescription pain pills. Thank goodness I never used the crap that’s on the streets now. It scares me. As long as I’m on methadone, I’m not in pain, I function well, I’m a good mom, & I know I won’t relapse. No shame in being on methadone. Some of us are just better off staying on it.
YES BROOO BOSTON ON THE MAP not for the best reason but im glad you came by and shined light on one of our worst issues in boston the more ppl know the more ppl can get help i hope everyone has the chance, love what you’re doing
bawston
Boston bein hold hostage by the war on drugs for gods sake that's how you run a state improperly
I just saw this same exact comment, “verbatim” from another person 🤔🤔🤔🤔
The person with the Jordan hoodie is a woman or men I can’t tell
@@eclecticsoul2514fr
8 years sober from H... I'm 39 I did 2 tores in TDCJ and now I'm a supervisor for a big company married and living life on life's turms. It's still hard to this day but it's definitely possible... A man that can kennel down to God can stand up to anything
Tdc Texas?
Texas?
Texas?
Tdc?
@@dieselboy610 Texas department of criminal Justice. Prison
Thank you for making this, really well done. I live in Lowell, clean many years, successful job, mt bike, bought a condo. It can be done. I have gone to meetings but didn't know about the recovery cafe. You've motivated me to get out and give back, so thanks.
Seeing you promote mental health awareness for men instead of a ballshaver or some fantasy picks in this time of the year really shows where your head is and its clearly for the community, Always proud to support this.
Agree but better help just isn't it....greed scum corporations and private equity getting involved in mental health...no fucking thank you.😂
I get your point but unfortunately prize picks is straight forward you understand your gambling and ball trimmers are needed aswell now when we talk about better help it’s a different convo. U might as well open up a free hotline and hire randoms to talk to other randoms with problems, u will probably get better results.
Agreed 💯
As a person in recovery, and a Methadone patient for over 10 years…this is a great video.
Methadone saved my life. Yes, I’m addicted to methadone. But this addiction doesn’t make me a shitty person. I don’t steal and lie to family on methadone.
Methadone is a great option for people who don’t have any options left. The stigma around methadone is still fairly negative.
I’m also a veteran and get my methadone from the VA. I don’t really stand in long lines. I feel lucky in that regard.
Thanks for the video Tommy and for bringing the attention to this situation.
Screw anyone trying to make you feel guilty - they are the ones in the wrong and have no idea what it like for you am sure. You are doing what you need to do. Use the time for something positive (start business, family etc)
You are not addicted to methadone. You are methadone dependent. We need to end this negative stigma around methadone. Methadone saves lives.
I'm on methadone 10 yrs too. Saved my life
I'm a veteran as well. I used methadone as well but I kept being a junkie and stacked dope on top. This was before fentanyl coming along. Suboxone was what helped me. It took away the knowledge I can use on top. I hope all yall are living your life and doing well. We need to live, not just exist.
i dont steal or lie to on fentanyl, been opiate dependent for over 12 years im now just turned 35 and never wanted to get clean more than i do now. these drugs here in Cincinnati, or the Midwest in general are so dirty, even the fentanyl isnt clean, its cut with other things that will have withdrawal effects like xylazine, blood pressure meds, benzos etc. just random concoctions with the smallest bit of fett, just to keep the feins well and money coming in. even when the fett was clean it stil didnt get me "high", it only takes the sickness away no matter how much i do. at one point when my tolerance was the highest i was using a eighth of fett every other day along with 15 - 20 100mg extended release Morphine pills, because the fentanyl wouldn't last long enough to keep me sleep all night, like id HAVE to pop at LEAST 10 100mg of morphine on top of a half gram of fett right b4 bed just to sleep for 8 hrs. its crazy these drugs are getting dirtier and dirtier, like now, with all this crap in it you feel your heart pounding like crazy before the withdrawals even set in...its deadly now to NOT do the drugs your addicted to or physiclly dependant on . and its messed up because people dont even know everything they're physically addicted to, that is IF youre buying off the street
I just wanted to say, methadone has given me the opportunity to change my life around. I was smoking and shooting up coke, crack, and heroin daily. In 2019 i learned about methadone and by spring time next year i will finally be graduating from my clinic.
I'm so happy for you!! Take care. ❤🙏🏼 ☮
Nice work! Use your focus for something positive. Start a business, family. Am sure you are avoiding much worse.
where was you getting heroin in 2019, couldn't have been in the Midwest. unless you got it from the internet or had a heck of a plug, once it started getting scarce here in Cincinnati was when the US government left the middle east and fentanyl took over... fentanyl was $80 a gram and the heroin went from $120-$140 to like $180-$250 a gram because it was so scarce. ive never met a opiate dependent person who preferred fentanyl to heroin, its stronger but wayyyyy less euphoric and has no legs meaning you get sick much faster. Now the dope isnt even fentanyl, it has the smallest amount of fett, the rest is xylazine (cat tranqulizer) benzos, and blood pressure meds, its crazy... i know several old heroin dealers who stopped selling because they know hhow dirty it is, they have family , friends, neighbors on this stuff, no way they wana sell it to them, its actually literal poison now... like seriously even before your withdrawl kicks in your heart feels like its going to explode, folks go into hypertensive crisis every single time it starts to wear off.... its crazy...
Thank you bro for shining a light on the issue again. I used to get high out in these streets, I lost my best out here.. I’m blessed to be where I am today but it’s been a LONG road. Praying for everyone still out there running and for the families because addiction affects everyone. Thank you to all those who work in the field, truly with peoples best interest in mind. Addiction is no way to live a life. Did the whole halfway house thing and everyone
Born and raised in Boston and I became an addict in 2000 and I got clean in 2007, October. Its now 2024 and I'm still clean. I did not do the program, I just decided it was time to stop using opiates. It's all up to you! How bad do you want it? I tried meetings and all it did was remind me of all the bad things i did while doing drugs, it wasn't for me, actually i don't understand why people need to go to meetings every day. If you want to stop then you stop, no meeting will fix you. hearing another drug story isn't going to make you stop using, Its all up to you!!
Especially NA.
Truest thing I’ve ever heard. I’ve been clean since 2015 after years of using pain pills. You’re right, you don’t stop until you’re ready.
@@chelseyhurd good for you. I very happy to hear you are clean now. congratz!
As a native Bostonian and recovering addict, I'm very happy to see you shedding more light on the opiate epidemic that has plagued Boston heavily since 2010. Would love to somehow meet ya Tommy, would you consider a fan meetup in Boston while you're out here man?
You can meet him and give him kisses 💋 🌈 🏳️🌈 🍆. Super fan stan
Plagued since 2000 not 2010.
@@jacquir8331 Way before that. I was out there in 2000. THe oxys hit in the 90s and everything went downhill from there.
@@jacquir8331 For me 1993 and I know many years before that. Back when heron was the real deal.
im from little ol Cincinnati Ohio, people come here to buy dope from Kentucky, Indiana even West Virginia everyday, you'll see them waiting at the corner stores, in parking lots etc, im talking 30-40 cars at a time... , westside, we just had 176 overdoses in 48 hours . this wasn't the whole city but just in our little neighborhood, the city had to call for help from surrounding districts and surrounding suburbs. All kinds of folks on this stuff, from pretty women f all colors, to the handsome black dude with muscles and gold teeth and tatoos, lol that most people from the suburbs wouldn't believe was drug users. We got this one lady, Asain lady whos a dentist, shes sitting out in the parking lot every morning in one of her two Lexus's waiting to copp her fett, she also smokes hard too. like why she dont just copp a bunch at once ill never know, like??? to people actually enjoy coming to the hood to copp everyday? sometimes multiple times a day, i dont get it.... Most opiate dependent people i know spend at least $80 a day just to sleep at night, just to barley stay well. Fentanyl isnt euporic like other opiates, thats why i dont believe these mfs who saay they spend hundreds a day just on fentanyl, like why? whats the point , if they really were their tolerance would be to hiigh to get high anyway. i been doing opiates over a decade and haven't been "high" in years, most people who come down here to get fetty admit it dont get them high anymore. they have to mix it with other strong opiates to feel anything. here in Cincinnati they wont even give you opiates at the hospital anymore. last time i went i had a broken collar bone, fractured ribs and broken finger, they gave me a whopping 8 vicodin pills. thats 40 milligrams, not enough to get high once, so i had to do we dont have "blues" here, its just sold in powder or rocks... street fentanyl is really all we got for pain relief, the hospitals dont give anything anymore because how many opiate dependent people we have around here... So its like wtf.??? the government
We do recover! My son is 25 and never seen me hiii or in a prison waiting room.
Tommy G showed alot of compassion respect.
I got 3 years sober coming up December 7th .. from fentanyl cocaine and benzos!! It’s way better on this side !! Big love and respect from Baltimore Maryland !
I’ve lived in Boston my entire life once they knocked down the bridge to Long Island in Quincy MA there was a big influx of people that starting coming over. In general mass Ave has always had an issue prior to the bridge being knocked down but once they started setting up “safe zones” where Boston cops would monitor it was an even worse open air drug market in there with zero repercussions. In 2017 once meth started hitting the streets that’s when you’d see the erratic behavior start to spiral even more. Feel bad for the people down there I have life long friends and family that are down there and once you start ripping and running down there it’s so hard to get out of it. Thanks Tommy G for shedding some light on this thank Mayor Wu and her bs tactics to “combat” it they she would have them move from “safe area” to safe area all around the vicinity from Topeka Street, Atkinson street to Melnea Cass
Mayor Wu is the worse thing to happen to this city in a long time.
Mayor Wu wanted to clean up awhile ago but coalition for the homeless kept threatening to sue her. They said if she provided housing/shelter they wouldn't sue. Well she did but there's no expectation for them to be clean. And 90% of the people aren't even from Boston but our services are going to them
I'm assuming you're from Southie from your screen name, I am too. I've lost so many loved ones from overdoses. We have been through so much as a community ♥️
I work as a substance abuse counselor for a methadone clinic, and I believe it is one of the best (and only) avenues for recovery for many people. The negative side is when methadone clinics are treated as merely an income based thing, where minimum staff involvement and care is done and not holding patients accountable. Some people use it as a crutch inbetween getting high so they dont feel sick, which is harm reduction for sure but isnt helping in the long term. Im grateful that the clinic i work at does its due diligence to push patients to strive for more, and hold then accountable to their sobriety.
Agreed. I've been on the clinic a long time. It helps so many... it sucks a lot, having to go there and stuff. But the day I signed up for help... I was homeless with nothing. Now I can hold a job, apartment, hobbies, all that. It's been like 15 years.. Kicking fett cold turkey is hell. The clinics help alot
I work in a residential treatment center on thursdays and i love it because patients are regularly tested and held accountable as well as always documented when leaving and returning premises and bag checks. Some still run away but many stick around because of the inhouse methadone. Many of my clients have recovered
Serious question. Can I be a John Doe patient or will they turn me away? Something has to change or finally end for me.
@Bostonmerch hmm I'm not completely sure, i have had a patient listed as First Name Unknown (last name), so you might be able to. i will say HIPAA laws will protect you and your information wont be plastered everywhere. what would giving your name do to harm you?
@@nnack1 you’re right. Plus the real challenge would be filling the prescription at a pharmacy (unless the clinics actually give you the medicine). I don’t want a medical record of it
"these people are people" and "some of them are the nicest people youll ever meet" is so fucking true and its fucked so many people just think they're "addicts". lost my brother who was a field biologist and he was fkn amazing.
Don't forget they are also the worst people you'll ever meet.
Same with politics too
People absolutely rag on each other because they’re democrat or republican. We’re American and above all we’re people. We’ll never have world peace unless we start viewing each other as such. Doesn’t matter who the president is if we can’t even see our neighbors as human. Doesn’t matter who the president is if they can’t see us as human. We need to stop putting people in boxes and stop hating boxes. That’s why drugs become so bad. You’re demonized for doing them and people don’t help and avoid. Which makes you rely on the drugs even more instead of the people around you. It’s absolutely fkn sad. And not even just drugs. We’re more and more divided by EVERYTHING now.
Drugs politics religion skin etc etc like wtf dude we’re human first yet we prioritize the artificial over everything. Politics are made by humans drugs are made by humans religion is made by humans yet we don’t value humans.
Both my daughters passed away from fentyanol overdoses. :( born 4 yrs apart and died 4 yrs apart. I miss them soooo much.😢 😢
So sorry. Devastating to lose one, but both? No words.
Fentanyl changed the addiction scene. It’s harder to dig yourself out and the risk of overdosing is higher.
I am so very sorry, that you lost your babies. This is a club that no one should be apart of😢😢😔🌹❤️I will be Praying to our Heavenly Father for your peace, and strength 😢
I am so sorry 💙
I’m part of a Facebook group for the missing on Mass Ave. It’s so sad how frequently family members post on there hoping someone has seen or heard from a family member. It’s been particularly bad there the last 7 years and the city has done shit. All ideas 🗑️. Though there are some great citizens helping them & risking their safety. Thanks Tommy G for covering 💪🏽
That FB group found my cousin and I’m forever grateful. Everyone on that page does all they can to keep us connected to our loved ones (and they do the hard job of notifying families when they don’t make it) I swear that group is full of modern saints
I remember fenty touched down like 2014/2015ish and a bunch of people I knew died. It’s crazy how fast shit progressed since then. Mass Ave is zombie land now
Tommy G thanks for saving my grandma from that house fire, she's very grateful for your heroic act. Thank you, you're a real one
Wait what?? 😂
Huh??
Is he a firefighter???
Bro stop pushing Better help. That is a well documented scam company
Yo that's what I thought too.
tell me more. I looked them up and saw they have a 4.4 star rating on trust pilot with nearly 8,000 reviews. what makes them a scam?
@@TommyGMcGee just type better help scam in to TH-cam
@@TommyGMcGeethey are a scam company, they had a major controversy a few years back and their therapists have been proved to be remote workers in India with no verifiable credentials
@@TommyGMcGee search up better help in TH-cam you’ll see the results. Trust me McGee
Great episode. That’s my city. Born and raised in Lowell, Ma. I’ve lived here all my life. It’s good to see these men help our fellow brothers and sisters. I also have lost many friends to addiction. I also want to congratulate all who are recovered or are in recovery. Can’t wait to see your episode on big pharma. ❤
Im on 180mg methadone it has helped me a lot. It had such a bad stigma i was afraid but glad i started. My bro died of od in 2012 several friends too. God keeps some of us here to learn and hopefully teach.
180 mil ? ☠️
Thank you for sharing! I've also been on the program for about 12 years this time and about 4 years back in 2002. It isn't the perfect answer but it sure as fuk is better than the other stuff. And it can enable a person to get some control in their life and I mean I've gone back to school, had a child at an amazing things I've had a pardon for my criminal record I've had a business. And I wouldn't have been able to do it without this program
@@SawdustSkullsounds alot, I'm starting on 35mgs next Monday.
Bro taper down, no hate but that’s an insane amount man.
No point in getting “sober” if you’re just gonna stay on the same dose or raise it forever
“noted that for opioid-naive adults, the estimated lethal dose can be around 30 to 50 milligrams, while for opioid-tolerant adults, it may exceed 120-200 milligrams.”
When the dose will take out a typical non opiate tolerant adult by damn 4-6 times the amount you’re taking it’s time to take a look around
Been waiting for this one since im from here. Mass ave is no joke. Thanks for covering.
Fr
Same
Im living on the south shore as a teen. My first time on mass ave was a few months back. I’m not used to seeing that stuff. Absolutely shocking to me. Prayers to all families affected.
Same here
@@Andrew_Davidson1357 Yup, notice how its more sad compared to other videos in different cities. I was watching this saying to myself he shouldve gotten bean shooter in the vid, and boom the shoota comes up🤣
My old elementary school is directly next to this wasteland the playground the children play had needles. I remember it getting so bad the school was shut down for a day, to get the city to do something about it. I hope things get better!
@@jobr0012 No, Orchard
I live half hour south of Boston. I’m a teen. I went to mass ave for the first time a few months back. Absolutely shocking for a prep kid of the south shore. I’m sorry you had to see that at such a young age. Prayers to all who are involved.
OGPS!
I’ve been on suboxne for almost 8 years and it’s what has saved my life. I’ve never relapsed and I tried getting clean before with out anything and I would not last a day after getting out of rehab
Methadone patient here , also 5 years sober . The problem with methadone is that if you get on it and aren’t working some type of program, whatever that may be as well , you’re going to see what you’re seeing at the clinics . A lot of people choose to get on methadone who are o the streets so they can begin their day without being dopesick and then can move on to their daily hustles to get their fix . Something you don’t hear often about methadone too people should know is it has been proven that doses over 90mg actually have a blocking effect for other opiates . So you can’t get high even if you wanted . All that being said it definitely saves lives too. It saved mine . Sadly I would say I’m not the majority but it has the possibility to really save lives.
The methadone clinics here in Cincinnati are a JOKE, if you have a life to live, like a JOB, and things to do its ridiculous.!!! you have to jump through so many hoops, and have to show up everyday spending about 2 hours there at least... like if you have a 1st shift job, forget about it.!, they WILL NOT WORK WITH YOU, they'll literally tell you that its either methadone or your job, not both, they don't open until 5:30 and you're going to be in there at LEAST a hour every time, even if youre one of the first 12 people in line, which you'd have to stand out side in the cold before 4 AM to get that up that far in the line. You cant fail your test even for LEGAL weed or you'll get cancelled, and IF you drank alcohol the night before and blow even .01 into the Breathalyzer, you wont get your dose that day.. Fentanyl isnt nearly as euphoric as other real opiates like Oxycontin 80's or Opanas (Oxymorphone) was, or even heroin... I've never met a opiate dependent person who preferred fentanyl over Heroin... its just all they can find and opiate withdrawal is terrible. I didn't sleep for 17 days last time i quit heroin, i became severely dehydrated and had two seizures and heart was in hypertensive crisis, i was just as sick on day 18 as i was on day 6, it was terrible. this crap isnt even fentanyl anymore, its xylazine mixed with benzos with blood pressure meds and all kinds of other crap mixed in with the smallest amount of fentanyl... Heroin use to be 100-140 a gram. then fentanyl was like $60-80 a gram, THIS new "fett" isnt even $50 a gram, its gross dirt.!!!! i will say, IMO heroin withdrawals are wayyy worse than fentanyl... BUT, this new stuff, EVEN WORSE, it'll make your head feel like its going to explode and you can feel your heart beating through your whole body, your heart goes into hypertensive crisis before you even get into full blown withdrawal... First the government abruptly took the pain pills away from people with legit prescriptions, then they made immediate release opiates illegal, which is when the government flooded the streets with heroin, then around 2015-2016 the heroin went away because our government left the middle east, and thats when the fentanyl took over.... i have a friend who was infantry Marine, he did 3 tours, 2 in the middle east, said all he did was take over poppy fields and hold down the poppy fields, said alot of Military was smoking opium over there and would be dope sick when they had to come home or whatever and ended up using at home in the states. OUR GOVERNMENT DID THIS.!!!
My favourite part of Beanshooters sober house is the Samuel Adam's umbrella for the table outside lmfao. He's a gent tho 100%
I can’t believe bundy is manager/bouncer at his sober house..lol
From Boston, thanks for covering this its been a ignored issue for a while.
i go to boston almost every weekend cause i’m local via train and it’s crazy how some parts are very clean and thriving and these areas are just.. feels off the the map almost
K
Hey Tommy. Thanks for this video. I'm 4 years sober and at 16 I ended up going to the 3 months sober home called "project rebound" on that island off of Quincy. It was amazing I became embassador and did good.
Blunt rolled , showered, and door dash on the way yessir
Let’s goooo
So real dawg.
@@TommyGMcGeeTommy gee mom said u could be my dad who walked out on us 20 years ago? With open arms 🤗 I say PAPA….?????????
Same here
Tommy g I mean not gee sorry dad
You have come a long way. Much respect to your videos from every perspective possible in this world.
Chicago showing love🤝🏽✊🏾
Lowell born and raised and haven’t been home in a while and this brings back a piece of awareness that left behind. Thank you for spreading awareness about Bean town and Mill City ❤
God bless those helping them and showing unconditional kindness. Truly angels on earth. Thank you 🙏🏻
Im 22 years old and as of last week i am officially 7 months sober from opioids and cocaine, i found methadone made me feel like a zombie 24/7 i had a much better time getting and staying sober once i switched to suboxone. Thank you for bringing awareness and compassion to everyone watching this video not just addicts themselves but family members of addicts too. My relationship with my family did a complete 180 once they were made aware of why and how my addiction was affecting me and i would say that was the most crucial part in my recovery because most of my trauma and issues arose from family
anyways to anyone reading this thats struggling right now i promise you sobriety is worth it, its never to late to make that change❤
Congratulations on the 7 months! Cheers to many more
I thought the same thing. I’ve been on and off methadone and suboxone for most of my adult life and suboxone works the best and gets you the least narcotic effect once stabilized on it.
@@Patrickhashxpatty i find some people need methadone because of the way it makes you feel, i found that you still have that “opioid fog” feeling 24/7 without actually being high and i guess thats all some people need to get through their everyday life or else they crave an opioid high too much and either relapse or overdose on something much worse which is sad, i have friends that are sober and well now but have no motivation for themselves anymore because they feel like a zombie 24/7 from methadone and fall into depression because they feel like they are going no where in life which makes them want to use even more and thus the cycle repeats. I don’t wish this disease on my worst enemy, stay strong brother i wish you all the best✊🏽
Blue Bike ain’t never getting those bikes back lol
I'm from the area and heard of "methadone mile" since I was a kid. I'm so glad you are finally giving these people the ability to share their experiences. The vast majority of them are good people who just got stuck in this life. Thank you for making this video, it is so important.
Im nearly 50 days clean from "just" heroin and i got no actual friends now bc i dropped them to get clean.
And idk i just wrote this hoping someone would tell me that hes proud of me
Mannnnnn stfu and keep that grind going G I'm proud you made it 50 now let's make it 100
Hey homie we are all proud ... keep it going..never give in. Never give up no matter how hard it gets because it only makes you stronger. For me personally the thought of everything that came with addiction over powers how good it felt, well for that 20 minutes if lucky 😂..., i can't feel good enough to make me want that life again ...not to mention legal issues and the law and again in that same sense , doesn't matter how hard it gets
I had to do the same thing man to get clean but in the end it was worth it, because whats better bro, having a sober happy healthy life? Or be high all the time battling that vicious cycle, worrying where my next hit is guna come from, i realised when i used i didnt have friends i had “drug acquaintances” they arent friends, i rather be sober and lonely than high with some fake ass friends near me
@@thecrackin-u8p ♥️
@@colin1348 ikr bro, them were no friends - in germany its called "Zweck Beziehung" like "Thing Relationship" - if you got stuff you got friends around, if not well then nobody is there
but thats not the problem, beeing alone is easy for me
it was just seeing all these comments with "im proud of you" and idk why but i wanted to hear it too
i wish you the best bro 💪🏼
The island closing really messed so much up. The programs and shelter helped so much. The only detox that i went to and had any success with was on the island. I have 10 years clean now.
i grew up in boston and i frequently drive by mass ave everyday to go to work. it’s sad man seeing this people.
Thank you for spreading awareness for all of these people’s situations without humiliating them or dehumanizing them and neither glorifying or putting down the life of a drug addict.
I feel like you really were able to show that addicts have a lot of demons in their lives, are hurting and do make many decisions they regret, but are still human like anybody else.
I used to work in Boston ~20 years ago. I'm sure there were homeless, but I never saw any, and I certainly never saw encampments like this, or "zombies". This country has steadily gone to shit in the last 23 years. It's embarrassing how far we've fallen.
The past 23 years... When "we, the u.s.a." started our mission to gain control of all the poppy feilds if afgan..... kinda crazy huh... almost seems like it was planned
I’m Born and raised in Boston and I’m walking on Mass Ave at the top of Newbury Street right now baby !☘️☘️☘️
No one f***** cares
No one f***** cares
Methadone saved my life. I abused prescription pain medication for years. Got on methadone in 2015 before all this fentanyl crap hit. MAT treatment can be great if you’re actually working a program & not just depending on the methadone.
As a kid who’s dad was addicted to herion and in prison and was able to get off of it this video was SO touching and beautiful! I pray for the people addicted to drugs it’s truly a disease 🙏❤️
that one person who said they started smoking crack when they were 12 made my cry a little, shits sad fr
Yeah bc while some of my friends did it for peer pressure then died these fucks contribute to the problem bc it’s handed to you
for sure... didnt ever get to actually LIVE thru the most important part of your life.
I took my first hit of fentanyl at 13 I’m 2 months away from 21 now.
@@Zxckarie Im sorry for that brother. I will be praying for you zack
@@Zxckarieglad ur still here with us bro
The crack house is probably still 3k a month rent!
It’s definitely section 8 tho lol
live right around here and my gf is an EMT that used to be stationed on the mile. look forward to watching this one
lol i turned this off soon as the asshat POSER Millyz came on screen.
Thank you for doing this Tommy.. A lot of Americans have no clue what its like in Boston.. I'm currently living in a half way house just outside of Boston and Mass Ave is very significant to pretty much anyone who has been affected by the drug epidemic in and around the Boston area.. I'm glad you are bringing awareness to these types of tragic or inspirational situations.. I've been living back and forth between Lynn, Roxbury and Dorchester all my life and I used to drop my mom off to work at Mass General thinking about how bad the methadone mile crisis has gotten without any real sign of getting better.. so to whoever is reading this : may God bless you and if you're one of the many victims of the disease of drug addiction please stay strong and keep faith!
Methadone can be useful.
(I was addicted to pain pills, never had heroin or fentanyl).
I found that it is more addicting than the pills.
The problem is the clinics. You are their cash cow. They have counselors at most clinics. From my experience the clinics try to keep you hooked. They made me keep increasing my doses, saying that I need to get to a certain amount before going down. But there is no certain amount.
They don’t try to get you off they try to keep you hooked.
tommy g always delivers
Damn this hit hard. Back when I was well acquainted with my old friend Oxy, I used to sometimes walk up and down this area looking for my other friends Xany or Kpin since a lot of ppl in this area were acquainted with them and those two love to hang out with Oxy. Turned out Oxy, Kpin and Xany were all terrible friends and they really messed up my life for a while. Lucky I ended those friendships while I was still alive
The methadone clinics here in Cincinnati are a JOKE, if you have a life to live, like a JOB, and things to do its ridiculous.!!! you have to jump through so many hoops, and have to show up everyday spending about 2 hours there at least... like if you have a 1st shift job, forget about it.!, they WILL NOT WORK WITH YOU, they'll literally tell you that its either methadone or your job, not both, they don't open until 5:30 and you're going to be in there at LEAST a hour every time, even if youre one of the first 12 people in line, which you'd have to stand out side in the cold before 4 AM to get that up that far in the line. You cant fail your test even for LEGAL weed or you'll get cancelled, and IF you drank alcohol the night before and blow even .01 into the Breathalyzer, you wont get your dose that day.. Fentanyl isnt nearly as euphoric as other real opiates like Oxycontin 80's or Opanas (Oxymorphone) was, or even heroin... I've never met a opiate dependent person who preferred fentanyl over Heroin... its just all they can find and opiate withdrawal is terrible. I didn't sleep for 17 days last time i quit heroin, i became severely dehydrated and had two seizures and heart was in hypertensive crisis, i was just as sick on day 18 as i was on day 6, it was terrible. this crap isnt even fentanyl anymore, its xylazine mixed with benzos with blood pressure meds and all kinds of other crap mixed in with the smallest amount of fentanyl... Heroin use to be 100-140 a gram. then fentanyl was like $60-80 a gram, THIS new "fett" isnt even $50 a gram, its gross dirt.!!!! i will say, IMO heroin withdrawals are wayyy worse than fentanyl... BUT, this new stuff, EVEN WORSE, it'll make your head feel like its going to explode and you can feel your heart beating through your whole body, your heart goes into hypertensive crisis before you even get into full blown withdrawal... First the government abruptly took the pain pills away from people with legit prescriptions, then they made immediate release opiates illegal, which is when the government flooded the streets with heroin, then around 2015-2016 the heroin went away because our government left the middle east, and thats when the fentanyl took over.... i have a friend who was infantry Marine, he did 3 tours, 2 in the middle east, said all he did was take over poppy fields and hold down the poppy fields, said alot of Military was smoking opium over there and would be dope sick when they had to come home or whatever and ended up using at home in the states. OUR GOVERNMENT DID THIS.!!!
Thank you for taking the time to not only spread awareness but to do it in such a positive way. You gained an instant subscriber Tommy G. Keep up the good work brother. Videos like these help keep me sober and you doing it in my homestate was exactly what I needed to watch with my 1 year coming up. Its a nice reminder on how fast things can go south. Much love brother 🙏
Growing up in Boston and being familiar with all this from losing an uncle, this is great info
bro you know what this reminds me of? the methadone thing? y’all remember JCS-Criminal Psychology? a youtube channel? his name was jim can’t swim criminal psychology and he made a legendary video idk if it’s still up of the white guy i forgot his name but he got locked up he was addicted to methadone and he drank coca cola and stuff and outsmarted the investigators. that video is legendary. does anyone know what i’m talking about?
th-cam.com/video/9x2NaGkl6BI/w-d-xo.html
This guy?
I know exactly what video you're talking about! Its one kf my favorites!
It was he was addicted to heroin and was asking for methadone from the jail to treat heroin withdrawals. He had prior criminal history, but they were accusing him of a robbery or something that he didn't do. They kept lying to him & telling him they had videos or proof he did it and he was like uh no way cause I didn't do this. They wantwd him to snitch on himself & gave him a coke thinking it would make him talk. "Wam bam thanks for the coke put me back in my cell"
"Wham bam! Thanks for the coke now take me to my cell."
@@JayMcCormick-s5vyes bro
@@OvercookedSpacegetti”wham bam thanks for the coke put me back in my cell” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
1st - fix the bridge, get everyone over the bridge to Long island - 2nd - put shelters, food, and addiction / mental health help on the island - it’s a start
@AshleyCorrea-r3k yes, Long Island in Boston - that was the name of the island that the bridge in question connected to - you got on the bridge in Squantum over to the island.
That LI facility will cost the taxpayers $1 Billion dollars to build. Then the ongoing costs.
0:10 that ls400 thoo😍
That’s what I was here to say
Dude I had a 92 ls400 as my first car and I totaled it before I realized how cool they could be lol
@@jerseylife8701RIP get another I got a 95
MY DOG FR
Methadone is top 3 worst drug to be addicted to.. but definitely the worst to withdraw from.. took me 8 months to feel somewhat normal
Thanks as always Tommy.
Be safe brother 😊✌🏼✌🏼🌞
I was a needle user of opiates for years. In and out of rehab, then I went to an ibogaine clinic in Mexico. Did the one time treatment and never had any withdrawals from opiates at all . I've been clean now for 8 years. Never crave want nor desire opiates now. How ibogaine works is it resets your brain receptors like you never even tried it .... Best choice I ever made! 💯💯
Tommy come to Vancouver BC I can show you around the bad , homeless, drugs to rich 17 year olds in Lamborghinis 15 mins away from the homeless areas
Was just in Vancouver today and walked past Louis Vuitton and there was someone smoking dope right in front of the door was such a crazy thing to witness
But I totally agree! He would do an incredible video on Vancouver!
@@JoeyRoo it’s a crazy switch from rich to poor in the city it’s evil I have friends who have their learners with $300k McLaren 720s from daddy and friends who are on the verge of homeless
15:49 hate to see this. Dude is literally high at that moment. Methadone "helps you the most" because you get to still shoot up dope 😑
100%
@@shaggysstonedagain1218You can add opiates to your methadone.
Yep that’s true I’m 3 years clean next month with suboxone it’s not easy and you still have to actually want to be clean to make it work
you can get high off of subs too and still get high just have to wait 24 hrs. It's a tool requires the person to actually want to stop using. Methadone also makes it harder for the person to overdose if they do happen to slip up which is a good thing. I am 5yrs clean now with the help of methadone of course it's not a one fit all solution.
@@u_can_find_drew wrong.! i duno what kind you were doing or what kinda opiate you was getting "high" off of, but in our experience, if you eat a sub or even subutex, you have to wait at LEAST 2-3 days before taking anything like a real opiate. they'll send you right into precipitated wd, that is IF you were actually opiate dependent to begin with, maybe you were a newbie.???? i was on opiates for over 12 years I'm now 34, i was using 3.5 grams of fentanyl on TOP of at LEAST 15-20 100mg morphine xrs a day... id do a half gram of fett and at least 1,000 mgs of morphine b4 bed every single night cuz the fett wouldn't keep me well long enough to sleep a whole 8 hrs.... just saying...
I‘m stoned from my first homegrown outdoor weed rn, eating ice cold nashi pears and fresh mango while realising you got a new video up, YESSS!!!
Greetings from germany! 🔥
Bless your night man sounds amazing
Drug addict!
What's it like now with the recent legalisation?
@@slick5894to be honest it‘s not a full legalisation. If you really want to smoke outdoors, you need to be very carefull. Staying away from kids, schools, playgrounds or preschool (which is 100% fine by me) in a big city is nearly impossible. If you living outside off big citys it‘s awesome! Smoking some clean stuff in the sommer while sitting at a lake is priceless. But most ppl only smoke in privat to avoid problems
Growing your own stuff at home on the other hand is beyond awesome. Even with the restriction of only 3 plants (6 in total if you do 2 runs per year) is a blast. No more expensive unhealthy stuff from ppl you don‘t know and it‘s so much fun to grow your own stuff. I did it outdoors in the sun and the weed quality is beyond crazy. Getting a clean high is a big difference. If we ever getting shops and other things in the future: Big maybe. The next goverment will be a right wing party and they hate everything related to canabis. Only time will tell ✌️
This one is great. 627 days sober now. To anyone reading this and your struggling, I know it’s so fukkin hard. The worst part is the mental. Get your first 7days in. Then go another.. then another.. till you turn around and your a whole year. Remember what matters the most and push through it. You have people that care and love you.
I’ve gone to Boston probably around a dozen times this year, it’s heartbreaking how each time, I’m seeing more and more people on the street. Just lines of people man, the mayor needs to step up and help with the aftermath of the past and the tragedy of the present.
Wu is a garbage mayor
Methadone is just as dangerous, my mother got high as a kite everyday off methadone for years until it killed her. It’s just the government being the drug dealer instead of chef Twin
I'm so sorry about the loss of your mom. ❤
It's tough because methadone helps but when u mix it can be dangerous especially with benzos. I'm so very sorry for ur loss my dude
@@jonblaze333 same with Suboxone it can help get you off the opiates but you really shouldn’t substitute one for another. The problem is the government and drs try and keep you on those forever so they can keep making $$ off you.
@@jonblaze333 methadone helps? what? a broke opiate dependent person stay well.??? in that case yes youre correct... i used fentanyl for years, it helped me "stay well" when i couldn't find heroin when i ran out of my prescription Opanas and Oxycontin... i never got "high" off fentanyl, not in the 7 years i did it muliple times every single day.... $100 a day to sleep at night, or , half a night i should say... at one point i was doing 3.5 grams of fentanyl every 48 hrs, and on top of that eating 15-20 100mg morphine pills a day just to "get well", never on ce felt "high" or ANY opiate euphoria off that crap, not anything like heroin or Oxy codone, Oxymorphone or even Vicodin... just not euphoric at ALL, yes "stronger" but for no reason, itll just shoot your tolerance through the roof....this coming from someone who was opiate dependent for over 12 YEARS...prob had 25 dope sick days that entire time, including last time i tried quitting cold turkey, i didnt sleep for 17 nights, on day 18 i was just as sick or sicker than i was on day 6... only severely dehydrated with hypertensive crisis and i had two seizures.... anyway, glad methadone helped someone, like fentanyl helped me, to stay well and not get high, its the same thing as suboxone or methadone imo... but this stuff effects everyone differently so there's that...
I'm sorry for your loss but if she was high as a kite everyday that means that she was on a dose way too high.
Come expose Maine next bro. It’s bad here.
The news isn’t telling the facts
💯💯 facts
Manchester, NH is filled with Heroine due to doctors over prescribing oxycontin and fentanyl
@@GamingManiacManmy father was a victim of that in Connecticut.
I’m sorry you’re going through that stuff there too.
The companies need to be held accountable,but they won’t be.
It’s almost ruined america
Shit I live just outside of Bangor and my dad is from Hartford Connecticut family still lives in Hartford and I feel safer walking around park ST than Bangor! My dad always said Maine was 20 years behind and boy wasn’t that right
@@ChadWascholl-lq3nrdamn 😢
Hey....I would let people know that going into rehab is not an end all beat all. You do not walk in the door and thirty days later walk out fixed. Its a lifelong journey. Its why we measure it in years.
Mathematics is awesome. We need more champions like that
Welcome to the Bean 💯‼️ HIDDEN ZOMBIE WORLD
Honestly, this video made my day!
Good bot
This soundtrack slaps, good pick!
Sound track, Slaps?? Wow they offer G.E.D. courses for free.
Mad props to Mathematics!! I met him when I lived in Boston. He is a solid dude that gets my respect in full for what he does for people that are struggling. I'm living back in Cali now and I can't forget how rough it can be in Boston, I couldn't imagine what people are going through who are addicted and living on the streets. They are as tough as they come for sure.
This totally ruined cocaine, can’t buy the shit anymore without sending it off to a lab for testing first
Facts. Not even able to celebrate a birthday or new years with a little booger sugar once a year without risking just fucking dying
Find a Mexican from Texas
They’re trying to clean that area up that’s why there’s more and more people from there at Downtown Crossing and other places
Look, I know this might not sit right with some people, but calling addiction a "disease" doesn't add up for me. To me, it’s a choice-every day you decide to either face life like everyone else or throw it away on substances. I've seen plenty of people struggle and deal with tough things, and not everyone turns to drugs. Sure, I get that trauma and stress make things harder, but that doesn’t suddenly turn addiction into some unavoidable disease. It’s about willpower.
I think calling addiction a disease is an excuse for people to dodge accountability. It's a way to say, "Well, it’s out of my hands," and I don’t buy it. Some addicts have done terrible things-hurt family, stolen from friends-all while claiming they’re "sick." At the end of the day, I see it as mind over matter. If you really want to stop, you’ll find a way. Making it into a “disease” just gives people a free pass to repeat their mistakes without ever truly taking responsibility thats my only thing i disagree with when the guy said its disease to us.
That's silly in my opinion. Very few addicts would choose to continue that life. You think they wake up every day and don't think they wish they could stop? That's like saying depression is a choice and you should just choose to be happy. It doesn't work that way.
@@rebeccazeman9309 you have a brain right? you make the choice to do drugs you dont have choice weather you're depressed or not you have a choice to do drugs or not and i have no sympathy for those who have the will power to get help but choice not to it so its not silly when its a choice unlike depression or other mental health issues so again its just a cop out to do drugs and ruin your life but you do you boo
@Jakku_4k I actually don't do drugs but I do have sympathy for those stuck in auction. Plenty of people do drugs but don't get addicted. Choosing to do the drug or alcohol or even cigarettes is a choice but none of them do that bc they want to get addicted. No one addicted actually wants their life to be that way. Diabetes is often caused by a poor diet which is def a choice but it's still a disease. Lung cancer is often caused by cigarettes which are also a choice to do. The amount of people who say they've tried to quit cigarettes and can't is crazy to me. And considering how much we know about how terrible cigarettes are for you idk why anyone chooses to try them but tons of people do. Same thing with alcohol. Plenty of people have a drink with friends or at a work function and some people have no issue with it and others fall deep into addiction. Or what about the people who had a horrific accident and then became addicted to medication? Or awful anxiety and then became addicted to the medication? Is that also a choice?
@@Jakku_4kthe problem becomes a little more complex if you look at the situations that lead to addiction and trying to stop. Let's take the fact that many of these street drugs are designed to keep you hooked and even kill you if you try to stop. Mental wants become physical ones. It's your subconscious telling you that if you stop you'll literally die. Because you have a pretty decent chance if you actually do because of your body's dependence on them.
I'm in Cali and was hooked on pain killers for 12 years taken over 100 10 mg pills a day at my worst I went to a methadone clinic and got help its crazy how many people say that methadone is just as bad because it does work if you are really trying to get clean! I spent 3 years at the methadone clinic and then dosed off of it and now been sober 5 years and loving life