Speak Up

okay, here it goes.... I am a drug addict. Scratch that I am a meth addict. Over the last few years that has been a big part of my life and im quite ashamed that I have let my addiction take over every aspect of my life. It has helped me lose everything I once held dear....my family, a job and friends that I loved, and most importantly my daughter who has no idea why mommy is not with her right now....as I sit here sober and desperately trying to figure out which step to take first to rebuild my life, I realize how truly stupid I was. When you decide to sober up your old friends are gone because you lied to them a million times and they just got sick of it, the friends you made while high and probably did the drug too are no where to be found because well you don't have drugs anymore. To anyone and everyone I have hurt with my drug use I am truly sorry especially to my daughter who won't understand until she's older. If you have never tried meth it's easy to sit there and judge me, and if you are then good because I didn't like you anyway. addiction is something that every single one of us has to battle whether it be small like a caffeine or nicotine addiction or something big like meth, heroin, pills, or alcohol. To any and all of you who are fighting to stay sober and change your life for the better, you can do it! And those of you who are stuck in your addiction and can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, it's there I promise. It took me months of saying I'm ready to change for me to take it upon myself to do so because I am truly ready to get on with my life and not forget about this part of my life but learn and grow into a better person because of it. it was hard for me to write this because no one likes to admit they have a problem but I do. Hello Everyone, my name is Arielle Nicole Claypool, and I am a meth addict.

I could sit here and throw some statistics at you and use some big words that would make me sound smart but in reality i would have no idea what it would mean. I am here as an addict asking you to sign this petition for the sole reason that everyone is an addict. I am asking you to sign this and pass it on because addiction should be recognized as a whole. We shouldn't be discriminating against one group of addicts telling them their addiction is wrong and instead of helping them we waste taxpayer dollars to send them to prison for years on end only for them to relapse and do it all over again. Why does this happen, because of a flawed system telling them that, 'we don't think we can help you because of your addiction so please proceed to the nearest prison, the treatment road is closed for you.' I am very passionate about this seeing as many of my friends and fellow addicts are facing anywhere from 0-25 years in prison because they were trying to get their fix and simply 'middle-manned' a deal. they aren't dealers or the people bringing it in from out of state yet they are in jail instead of the actual criminals. If you are a human chances are you are an addict. Help your fellow brothers and sisters out by signing this and helping bring some very much needed attention to this issue. Thank you all for your time and God Bless. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/addicts-need-rehab-not-prison