The issue of drug addiction sometimes hits closer to home than we would like. We tend to think that drugs are a big city problem, that it’s not that bad here but tatistics show that not to be true. Even more alarming is that our youth are more likely to try meth than their urban counter part, 104% more likely. Dayton resident Mike Schwering is just one of many examples of addiction in our quiet little towns.

He nearly lost his life, his kids and his freedom to meth addiction this past May. Mike has been struggling with drug addiction for the last 10 years and it has finally caught up to him. His home was raided and his kids were removed from his care. Mike hit rock bottom.

Ashli, who is thirteen years old, was asked what her life was like when her father, Mike was on drugs. She stated that she had caught him once, while staying in a motel, passed out with a smoking pipe laying on his chest. Ashli was concerned for her dad and was worried that he would get caught and go to prison.

She also said, “He would yell and was angry all the time.” Ashli wasn’t afraid of him but didn’t like to be around him.

With the thought of losing his kids forever Mike decided to give up the long time drug habit. He is now in outpatient treatment and attending AA/NA meetings. Mike has now been clean for over four months and his entire outlook on life has changed.

Now that Mike is clean and not doing drugs Ashli loves spending as much time as possible with Mike. She is a true daddy’s girl.

While attending meetings in Fort Dodge he realized that there should be something closer to Dayton, that there are other people in the community with similar problems that he has. Mike thought that he might be able to help other people while helping himself. Mike is asking for other people in the area to help him start a local chapter of AA/NA.

His plans are to get a local charter started before the holidays. He said the hardest thing about giving up drugs isn’t the drug self, it’s “changing all of your friends, changing all of your life. Everybody likes to have friends, but when you want to be clean you have to change the people you spend time with.”

With the holidays being the time when depression rises he thought it would be good to get something started before then. He also talked a little about how it feels to be a drug addict. He says that the reason he did meth was low self-esteem. “People with low self-esteem are more likely to use drugs or drink.”

So keep an eye out for Mike and if you see him on the street be sure to ask him about the meetings, or even ask him if he’s still clean. He can use all the support he can get.