HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2005-12-07, Page 10Page 10 December 10, 2005 • The Huron Expositor
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Former drug and alcohol abuser speaks to St. Anne's students
Cheryl Heath
4.11111.11.
It was Sept. 23, 1999 when Paul
Christie took a long, hard look in
the mirror.
The veteran drug and alcohol
abuser saw something cold and evil
staring back.
"I saw a monster," he says.
That vision proved to be his salva-
tion.
Christie, who is now a single par-
ent, motivational speaker and busi-
ness owner in the Niagara Region,
came out to St. Anne's Catholic
Secondary School Thursday after-
noon to share how he turned his life
upside down and was better for it.
But the changes were nearly 30
years in the making.
"I'm ashamed of my past," he
says. "I have to live with things that
many people can't imagine."
Christie, the youngest of eight
children who acknowledges coming
from warm, loving parents, began
his first foray into the world of
drugs in Grade 7 when he lit up his
first joint.
His transformation from a
straight A student into a youth who
was forced to repeat the year was
almost immediate as his grades
quickly dropped to Fs.
By Grade 8, Christie's substance
abuse problem had burgeoned to
include alcohol.
It then grew to the point that in
Grade 9 Christie's escalating sub-
stance abuse addiction made
national news when he and two
accomplices accidentally burned
down two multi-million dollar
. homes while searching for more
alcohol.
Eventually that crime led to a
three -and -a -half year term in a psy-
chiatric facility, which was later
commuted to the Guelph reformato-
ry.
It was in jail that Christie's sub-
stance abuse problem, which had
grown to include cocaine and hero-
ine injection, took an even firmer
hold.
years' time. In the interim, he dined
on dumpster food, lived on the
streets and hit his parents up for
money as much as possible.
"I'd just become an animal on the
streets," says Christie, adding that
eventually, he managed to get him-
self arrested for impaired driving
eight times in one month.
Cheryl Heath photo
Former drug and alcohol abuser Paul Christie speaks to students inside the St.
Anne's Catholic Secondary School gymnasium Thursday afternoon.
"They had just as many drugs in
there," he says, noting he was regu-
larly shooting cocaine and heroin.
When he was released from jail,
he began robbing people and busi-
nesses to feed his drug habit.
"I'm robbing everybody and every-
thing," he says.
Once a judge told him the
Kingston penitentiary would be his
next home, Christie fled to the
United States and met with his
father in Buffalo. His dad gave him
$3,000 and a bus ticket to
California.
The money weighed heavily on his
mind because, "I know I got this lit-
tle devil on my
shoulder called
addiction."
Christie
arrived in San
Diego and spent
every dime of his
largesse on drugs
the first day.
His down-
ward spiral con-
tinued and led to
more than
arrests in 10
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Those charges led to a three-year
prison term in a tough California
prison.
Once released, immigration
brought him back to Canada where
he was given another chance by a
judge.
"I went straight to a crack house,"
says Christie.
He continued his dances with the
law until being sentenced to jail on
another charge. It was there that he
met his cellmate's girlfriend. Their
relationship led to a son, Jesse.
Jesse's arrival was such a wel-
come one Christie's parents bought
the family a house while Christie
continued to hide his addiction from
his wife.
Six months into the relationship,
however, she found him shooting up
in the basement. She moved out two
hours later.
Though Christie continued to see
his son every other weekend, his
drug abuse escalated until he
became so despondent that he
planned to kill himself.
But he first wanted to give his son
a topnotch Christmas to remember
his old man by.
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Christie collected Christmas pre-
sents and persuaded his ex-girl-
friend to allow him to have his son
for a few days at Christmas.
Then, on Christmas Day,
Christie's dealer came by and left
him some cocaine.
"I knew Christmas was off," says
Christie, who proceeded to get high
and ignore his son's pleading phone
calls for the next four days.
That following January, Christie
was broke and `jonesing' for crack.
The drug dealer offered up $100
worth in exchange for some time
with Christie's girlfriend who he
had taken in off the streets six
months before.
She killed herself three days later
and shortly after that, Christie
received her suicide note in the
mail.
Christie's decided he, too, would
end his life but the attempt failed
when his belt strap broke.
"Typical crack head. I can't even
kill myself right," jokes Christie.
He then decided it was a sign
from God — to keep partying.
Then, in the fall of 1999, Christie
saw his real self. And it terrified
him.
He entered detox for five days and
then a rehabilitation centre for nine
months.
He has not had a drop of alcohol
to drink or a drug since.
"Every single school I go to, I save
someone's life," he says.
Christie urges parents and stu-
dents in need of advice or coun-
selling to contact him through his
web site www.gloryclouds.com He
pledges to answer every e-mail that
seeks a response.
During a question -and -answer
session that proved livelier than
most, students peppered Christie
with questions ranging from
enabling to guilt to pains.
Christie admits nothing about his
life has been easy and says if stu-
dents "could feel one ounce of my
pain, you won't do drugs." He also
acknowledged that he has since
become a Christian.
Christie's `Be Real' presentation
was arranged by school advisory
council.
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