Help Is Out There

Treatment for Young Drug Addicts

Alexa Pozniak
ABC News- Second in a Multi-part Series

March 11 — As a little girl growing up in a small town, Melanie had a picture-perfect life. She was a well-rounded child who attended Catholic school, went to summer camp, and had what she calls an "amazing" family.

By the age of 18, Melanie was a recovering drug addict who had been using both street and prescription drugs for more than five years.

"I first started using drugs when I was about 13," recalls Melanie, who asked that her real name not be used. "I was hanging out with my friends, getting messed up on weekends, then once a week, then twice, and then every day. I experimented with acid, cocaine, prescription painkillers, and then I was introduced to opiates in my last year of high school."

So what went wrong?

Experts believe drugs fill a need for children and adolescents, like Melanie, as well as adults.

"They take the drugs because it serves some sort of emotional purpose for them, it provides an escape route," explains Dr. John Shaw, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Miami.

Melanie admits the addiction quickly grabbed hold of her and as she built up a tolerance the amount of drugs she took escalated.

After a successful recovery, Melanie now wants to warn parents that drugs are "out there," and kids have access to them from a variety of sources. "It's sad to say, but kids can get drugs anywhere they want, especially in high school," she warns. "You can get them in school, from the street, or even from someone's mother."

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