Local center, addicts work together

By Staff
Melissa Cason
It's no secret the biggest problem facing our county is drug addiction.
The disciples at the Russellville Dream Center, an addiction rehabilitation center that opened in November, agreed to sit down and talk openly about their addictions and how they were freed from their inner prison they made for themselves.
Vickie Duke, Mark Rico, Martha Carthridge, Ebony Carruthers, Tommy Harrison, Roy Concord, John Borelli, Brandon Ikerd, John Oliver and Shawn Reathford battled addictions to hard drugs including cocaine, crack, heroin, injection oxycontin, and what seems to be our county's own drug of choice, methamphetamine. Together, the group of 10 former addicts spent 148 years in drug addiction, and they are the face of addiction.
The reasons for starting drugs vary.
For some, it started because of peer pressure, but for others, it was the glamour and prestige associated with drug abuse.
"My cocaine use came because of the glory and the glamour that came with it," Rico, who used cocaine for 30 years, said.
Rico said it was easy to fit in at parties and other functions in the 1970s and '80s if you used cocaine.
Concord said he tried cocaine and meth at first because of peer pressure, but once he tried them, he was immediately hooked.
"The way they [drugs] made me feel was the reason for my going back each time," Concord said.
"They take the fear out of reality."
Reathford said once you get that high the first time, you will chase it from that point.
"You chase that high from then on even 100 times later," Reathford said.
The group admitted to doing anything in order to get their high including stealing, lying, cheating, prostitution and other acts too horrible to mention.
"Everything in you is telling you to go back to the dope, and it's hard to break that cycle," Rico said.
For the group sitting around the table, the cycle was broken by one thing: God.
But, what made them turn to God in order to break the cycle was knowing they had nowhere else to turn.
Several of them decided to break the cycle when they sobered up enough to realize the devastation they caused and were tired of destroying the lives of others around them while others knew that it was time to change or time to die.
"I was three or four days away from dying," Borelli, who was a heroin addict for 27 years, said. "I ended up at a mission in Phoenix, Ariz., to get some rest."
Borelli was able to get a bed in a discipleship program in Phoenix, and he began to put his life back together.
"Once I got to that mission, I never once had a desire, withdrawal or anything," Borelli said. "Because when my God heals you completely, he doesn't do it halfway."
Rico, Borelli, Carruthers and Reathford all successfully completed the discipleship program, and have begun to help others heal from the addictions at the Russellville Dream Center.
All of the group members agreed the one thing that was missing from their lives while they were using drugs was the presence of God.
Now that they are working to put their lives on track, the disciples are trying to cope with the hurt, pain and devastation their addictions caused their families, friends and others who might have been around them while using.
"I have taken everything from my father," Ikerd said. "He has nothing besides his home and car."
Ikerd continued by saying that he is thankful that his wife saw a story in the newspaper and called for him to enter the discipleship program.
Rico said knowing that he hurt people is the worst thing about his addiction.
"There is no telling how many people I hurt in order to get drugs, and I know that I cannot make that right now because I don't know who or where they are," Rico said. "But, I try to let it go because I know that Jesus has forgiven me, and that's all the matters."