‘Boosting’ to support her habit — one woman’s nightmare

Editor’s note: As part of the NewsHour’s series on the opioid epidemic, I went to eastern Ohio and interviewed three former addicts who are trying to work their back into society — and into the workforce. The interviewees were so candid and revealing that they deserve more time than a few soundbites in a broadcast story.

The broadcast segment will run tonight on the NewsHour. Here’s the first of the interviews (you can watch it here or in the video below), with a woman named Donna Dibo, who is participating in a jobs training program for ex-addicts in Youngstown, Ohio. The interview was edited for length and clarity.

PAUL SOLMAN: Why are so many kids using drugs? Just to experiment because that’s the nature of being a kid?

DONNA DIBO A lot of kids grow up in the homes where there’s alcohol and drugs and it’s hard to be the odd one out and say, “I’m not going to do this.” For me, it was just normal. It was the everyday thing.

PAUL SOLMAN: How much of a factor is boredom in taking drugs, whatever the drugs are? You’re just bored and it’s something to do.

DONNA DIBO: I do believe that that does play a factor. I wouldn’t say a big factor, like not even 50 percent, but around 20-25 percent.

PAUL SOLMAN: If that’s 20 or 25 percent, what’s the 75 percent, or the biggest factor?

DONNA DIBO: For me, the longest time, it was the thrill of it. The hunt. Of course, getting high, that was the thing. Then it starts to tire you down after a while, the running, the chasing, just all of it.

PAUL SOLMAN: It’s exciting at first because it’s subversive?

DONNA DIBO: Absolutely. Yeah, you meet new people. You think they’re cool, and, “I want to do what they’re doing.” Oh, yeah.

PAUL SOLMAN: The high is worth the wait?

DONNA DIBO: Yeah. In the beginning, it is, but then after that, it’s not so much. It’s like you’re chasing to get back to that point that you can’t get to.

I was in a bad car accident when I was pregnant with my daughter 17 years ago, and she was okay thankfully. However, after I delivered her, my back was real bad. They put me in for an MRI, and [found that] the fourth, fifth, and sixth vertebra were bulging. I had two that were herniated. It was just really bad, so they started the epidurals on me, then the nerve blocks when they didn’t work, and throughout that process, that’s how the pills came into my life.

I was in pain so much, and in the beginning when I was taking those pills, I didn’t have pain anymore, so then I would overdo it, just cleaning, going to work, whatever it was. Then, when they started to wear off, right back to that point. Then, once that happens for a while, you start to build up a tolerance, so then you need another one. Then another one. That’s how it happened for me.

When I had to take them for my back, I didn’t even really like them at first. I was getting sick off them, [so] then the doctor just switched the kind. I went from Vicodin to Percocet. Then, I was okay with them. My body reacted okay to them. Once I started, I just… It was very hard to stop.

[The doctor] was just writing and writing and writing [prescriptions]. You can go in there and tell him, “I can’t get out of bed in the morning.” He’s going to give you a script for 120. That’s just how it was. When I went in there and told him, “Okay, one four times a day isn’t doing much for me anymore,” then that’s when he doubled it. It was that easy. Then I started to learn how to talk to doctors after that, and what to say to seek them out. That’s what I was doing.

PAUL SOLMAN: Were you working during this time, after your car accident?

DONNA DIBO: Yes. Waitressing. I love people. I’m a people person, so I loved to waitress.

PAUL SOLMAN: But it’s hard work, particularly if you have a back problem.

DONNA DIBO: It is. It is, but when you have four or five pills at once, you’re pretty much okay after that, until you start to come down off of it, and then you take more. That’s pretty much how it works.

PAUL SOLMAN: Did you have to give up waitressing?

DONNA DIBO: Yes. I did. That was one of six jobs, actually, that I’ve given up due to addiction. I was coming in late for work, sometimes I was calling off. I would not show up, or if I did show up, it was just a matter of I couldn’t focus. I was getting the orders wrong for people.

PAUL SOLMAN: How long have you been out of the workforce?

DONNA DIBO: I’ve been out of work for about seven years.

PAUL SOLMAN: [When you were working], you were spending everything you get as a waitress on your habit. What was happening to your kids?

DONNA DIBO: Not just my income. My husband’s income as well. It got to the point to where he had to literally sit me down and say, ‘Your name has to come off the bank account. That’s just the bottom line.’ Of course, I was angry and mad, because I was so caught up in my addiction, I thought he was the bad guy, but in all reality, he had to do that, because I was taking literally everything away from him and our children.

PAUL SOLMAN: It must’ve been hard in the beginning, wasn’t it, to talk about this stuff?

DONNA DIBO: Yes. It’s hard to say, ‘Listen. You know that cell phone you just had? No one stole it. I stole it.’

PAUL SOLMAN: You stole it from your daughter and sold it?

DONNA DIBO: Absolutely.

PAUL SOLMAN: How much did you get for it?

DONNA DIBO: About 100 bucks. You never get what it’s really worth when you’re dealing with drug dealers. And Sears, I’m no longer allowed on their property. I stole so much from them, I probably own their store to be honest. I would boost. That’s what we called it, boosting. I would go into all the stores. My trunk and my backseat would be full with everything. I would just sell it to people everywhere. I did that for a couple years.

PAUL SOLMAN: Really? How do you get away with it?

DONNA DIBO: You just got to know where the cameras are. I talk. I’m a talker, so in all reality, I would go ask them where it was, and I was going to steal it the whole time, but I do believe, if you talk to people, if you go in there and you just look suspicious, they’re going to know what you’re doing. I just came up with this brilliant plan to just talk to them, “Hey, how you doing? How’s your day? Blah, blah, blah,” and right out the door with everything.

PAUL SOLMAN: But you finally got caught?

DONNA DIBO: Yeah. Sure did. I was being greedy.

PAUL SOLMAN: What’s the greediest?

DONNA DIBO: The comforter sets, or you know,

PAUL SOLMAN: The comforter sets?

DONNA DIBO: Walking right out the door like I bought them. Absolutely. The shoes, the boots, I had 20 pair of boots that I bought for my husband. He thought I bought them. I did not buy them. I just walked right out the store with them. I don’t know what it is. It’s just I had a knack for it.

PAUL SOLMAN: [Eventually], did you switch from pills to heroin because heroin was easier to get, more affordable?

DONNA DIBO: That is one of the main reasons why I switched to heroin, but in all reality, honestly, it was easier. I hate to say that, but there was so many heroin dealers. It was just more convenient. I’ve gone through being sick from pills, from not having pills, and the sickness is nothing compared to not having heroin. It is nothing. Your body just… it’s like you stood in line and let a football player just ram you without any padding. It is like a job itself, actually. It is.

PAUL SOLMAN: Just trying to find that day’s drugs?

DONNA DIBO: Yes. Then, once that day is over, your mind’s already going 1,000 times a minute thinking, ‘What am I going to do for the next day?’ [Looking for drugs] is a full time job.