I grew up in a conservative religious household in CA with my grandparents. My father was a heavy drug addict (meth and heroin) and I saw him slam a lot. He asked if I wanted to try when I was 10, so I was curious and I said yes. He gave me the first shot and since then I've been hooked for 14 years now.

I did everything from blow to huffing paint and hairspray. I got tired of heroin so I tried fentanyl at age 18. That's when I OD the first time out of 30-40 times. I should have died but something was keeping me here on Earth.

I moved to Palmdale when I was 23. I moved to seek housing and hopefully get clean. I didn't get housing but I was successful on cutting my habit/addiction down quite a bit. April 3rd, 2019 came and that was Payday for me. I got a motel room and my friend came with me. I bought needles from Walmart and dope (meth). I shot up the first time successfully, but the second time wasn't successful. I missed and I “overamped”, which is different from overdosing because you can't OD from meth. I went to the hospital and got better.

June 3rd, 2019 has been 2 months since I last used and I have not touched drugs since then. I feel drained but I feel a lot better not high. My advice to anyone that either is contemplating drug use or already a drug addict, please stop when you have a chance. ‍

Note from Million Little: To see more about James’ artwork and story, click here.