I saved my four children from drugs

For 20 years I have faced a tough battle at home. Four of my five children became addicted to drugs. Marijuana, cocaine and even crack. But my husband Eli and I were strong and helped one by one to overcome the problem. Today, only the youngest is in a clinic, but in the process of recovery and I’m sure he’ll win this fight.

All my children studied in private schools, did judo, swimming, capoeira and English. They had education, leisure and no reason to fall into drugs. I’ve blamed myself a lot, but I know that every family is subject to what happened to mine. That’s why I try to help other people.

For 11 years, Eli and I have coordinated a group that is part of an entity that supports relatives of drug addicts: Amor Exigente. Experience has taught me to recognize the most common mistakes and successes during the different phases of the recovery process. I share here everything I went through and learned to rescue my children from drugs.

When the mother of a friend of my second son, Ronaldo, told me that he and her boy were smoking pot, I couldn’t believe it. I broke my face. I found weed in his backpack. He said he was saving it for a friend. Lie. In place of the beloved son of before, Ronaldo was becoming an apathetic, dirty kid, a bad student. He didn’t hear us. The worst thing is that I gave the money because I was afraid he would steal it to buy marijuana. I made a mistake.

In a situation like this, it is best to make it clear that parents are not going to condone drug use. When the parents find out that their son uses drugs, they begin to persecute him. I did this with Ronaldo and Fabiano, my third child. They left the house, I followed. It never worked. Six years passed and Ronaldo was still smoking marijuana.