9781422274330

1 CHAPTER

Drug Abuse and Addiction

Joey B. wakes up every weekday morning to work as a laborer for a plumbing company. He doesn’t have any training as a plumber, so he barely makes more than the minimum wage, yet he winds up doing the dirty jobs and heavy lifting that the more skilled plumbers don’t want to do. At thirty-four years old, this is the first job that Joey has held on to for longer than a few months. Unfortunately, this is the best job that Joey can find. He doesn’t have a college education or any technical school training. He doesn’t even have a high school diploma or GED. Since his teen years, Joey has been an addict, and this is the first time he has held a job and earned a regular paycheck. Joey’s battle with drug addiction began when he was in middle school. One day, his friend stole some of his mother’s opioid pain medicine. It was a prescription for oxycodone that

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Drug Abuse and Addiction