[John Petrella]: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Medford Happenings, a show for and about the city of Medford. And I am John Petrella. And the purpose of this program is to give Medford citizens facts and information to help you make informed choices and to discover city services or even businesses you may not have been aware of. And our guest today is Greg Carbonello, who has been through addiction, recovery, everything in between. And I really want to thank you, Greg, for coming on the show. It takes a lot, and we appreciate it. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I appreciate it very much. Thank you for the opportunity. Blessed to be here.
[John Petrella]: Okay, so before we get started, you know, with your story, just tell us a little bit about yourself. Who's Greg Carbonello?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm a 51-year-old man, lifelong Medford resident. Family came to Medford in 73, right before I was born, from Charlestown, Mass. From Charlestown, okay. Yeah, from Charlestown, Mass, and family's been here since. My brother graduated Medford High, 1987, starting guard in the Medford High basketball team. I graduated Medford High, class of 91. Didn't do a lot of the sports at Medford High School because I was already into, you know, the girls, the drinking, the drugging. You know, in high school, I did a lot of, like, local sports, CYO, Babe Ruth, Senior Babe Ruth, and so forth. But I ended up going to Northeastern University, College of Criminal Justice, graduated in 1997, and I've been working in the criminal justice field since. Yeah, 27 years. 1999, I started for the state, and in February, I just started my 27th year.
[John Petrella]: Great, that's awesome, really, that's a good story. I thank you for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I appreciate it.
[John Petrella]: I really do. All right, so now, can you tell our audience, as best you can, how did you begin the journey with addiction? What age, I mean, I think you just said a little bit about what age you first started using. I mean, how did it all come about?
[SPEAKER_00]: So for me, I grew up loving sports, entertainment, activity. I was always out and about and the rush, the adrenaline rush I think I got from the sports got me into football cards. So obviously that happened in high school, probably early, I think, actually before that, I think my first bet, I think I placed probably a 12. I was, a quick story, I was shoveling my neighbor's, the snowstorm, we had a snowstorm and I was shoveling top of his driveway. He was gonna pay me like 10 bucks or something. I knew he went down to the track and he's like, you know, if you wanna put in a bet, I'll put in a bet for you. So I said, instead of giving you the $10 for shoveling the snow, put the tent on the two horse, probably came in dead last. But yeah, that's, you know, that's where it started with me, it was gambling. You know, that was my first vice. And, you know, gambling at a young age and got into high school and drinking down the woods, you know, keg parties back then, pretty normal behavior when you're a teenager.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, we all did it.
[SPEAKER_00]: We all did it. And I like to do it, you know, more than most. I mean, most of the kids that I was hanging out with, if they weren't athletes, They weren't kids that were playing on the sport teams. I was hanging around with the kids who like to drink, smoke weed, grab girls. And that's what I like to do.
[John Petrella]: Doesn't always lead to great stuff, but a lot of us did it.
[SPEAKER_00]: That wasn't my full, in-depth trip into addiction. It was a slow progression. But we talk about addiction, a lot of people, we bond with the gene. Do we have the gene? My brother died of a heroin overdose in 2015. That's just part of my story, but like addiction, it can happen to anybody. It happens to people's family. It doesn't matter what you call it. Look at Medford. How many people that I've gone to school with that have passed away, you know, to substance abuse and mental health.
[John Petrella]: I had the same thing, a lot of good friends passed away from it. A lot of things happened. And unfortunately, it really touches a lot of people, a lot of families, and you have a success story, which is great. No, I know, but it's great. So I guess you sort of gave us a little bit, when you realized you had a problem, And, you know, some of the things I always think about, you know, were you able to maintain, I mean, how did things go, like, you know, with your family, friendships, you know, handling your job and things like that? General life, I mean.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, in general life, like in college, that's when I kind of picked up the addiction more heavily. You know, I had the access to Percocets.
[John Petrella]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, that was mid-90s. Yeah. Mid-90s. So, wasn't much of a drinker. Never really was. I'd like to hang out, but booze wasn't my thing.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I liked a good buzz.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: A couple perks. You know, I get a prescription from the doctor. No big deal. Maintained like that through the 90s, early 2000s, you know, just weekends, parties, holiday. It wasn't like a daily thing. Then, you know, I got in a car accident, 2003, you know, I'm driving on, you know, 95 South, going towards Foxborough, and it was a commercial company in front of two cars and staging started coming off the back, flew up my car, you know, the wheel went through the windshield. I mean, it would have killed me if it hit me, but anyways, long story short, ended up with herniated discs. Next thing you know, you need to go in, you need pain pills, prescription for Percocets. And slowly from there, the progression began. And it's like, you know, I was hooked. I was hooked right off the rip. And that was, you know, 2003 is when it really started. And then it lasted until 2023. 20 straight years of active addiction and the perks. Went to 15, to third. Whatever the doctor was gonna give me, I was gonna get.
[John Petrella]: Right, and this is, the doctor was giving it to you. I mean, I hate to say it, but a lot of doctors back in our time,
[SPEAKER_00]: Back then, that's what they did, and that's why the whole Oxycontin addiction ravaged the cities. People dying in the suits and in the settlements, and all that stuff stems back. So for me, a lot of people think it's divine intervention, that it's a miracle that I survived what I did, considering I used actively from 03 to 23. And, you know, I never got arrested, never got in trouble. I was able to maintain a full-time job Monday through Friday, 830 to 430, to the best of my ability. But when I wasn't at work, towards the end, you know, I was a wreck. I dealt with a lot, a lot of post-traumatic stress with my brother and, you know, just the addiction of opiates. took me to my knees.
[John Petrella]: Right. And I believe in divine intervention. I really do anyhow. Yeah, I always have. Okay, so you know, you got all that. And I've seen a lot of people go through that. What was it or when did you decide or was there a certain, something specific that you can talk to us about when you decide, when you just said hey look I gotta get help. I don't want to be like this or I don't want to do this anymore. Can you pinpoint it or?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I can get to a rough area towards the end of June of 2023. Okay. So things were kind of really becoming unraveling for me at work. Just like, you know, attendance, banging and sick a lot. Right. I mean, what happened is the prescriptions, you know, weren't coming like they were monthly. So I gotta get my, you know, pills. So, you know, when I don't have them, I'm sick. So at that point, things kind of were going sideways. And luckily for me, like I said, divine intervention, I got stopped, you know, I was put in my place, I was given an opportunity to get help. And, uh, you know, that's what I did. I mean, we can get into, you know, how that happens. But at the end of the day, uh, I just know I was given an opportunity and so far I've made the most of it. And if I didn't get stopped in my tracks, I probably wouldn't be sitting here having that conversation with you today because, for me, I was probably going to die. I was probably going to die. If not, I would have been arrested.
[John Petrella]: Right. I hear you. I hear you. So, the opportunity came, or however you want to phrase it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[John Petrella]: It comes and, you know, I'm just, a lot of people don't take advantage of it. They don't. They really don't. They want to. But I don't know if it's they're not ready, they just can't do it. It takes a lot when that opportunity comes, but you were able to take advantage.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is just my story, right? I'm just telling what happened to me and what worked for me. They call me, I'm a one-timer. One time, one time in the treatment, one time in the detox. I was able to get it, knock on wood, through treatment, through help, through meetings, through a recovery center, through people from work to do a good support system. But for me to get there, it took me 20 years to get there. A lot of pain, a lot of suffering. But at the end of the day, when I needed to do it, when I was given the opportunity to finally look myself in the mirror and make a change, You know, I needed to, you know, do that. And the steps that I took, like I said, to work, we'll get into the EAP, whatever you want to talk about. In my situation, employee assistance program, 800 number through my union, called them. Next thing you know, they had a bed available for me in Portland, Maine a couple days later.
[John Petrella]: Wow, that's incredible.
[SPEAKER_00]: So again, first time ever trying to reach out for treatment, grabbed it like that. Literally.
[John Petrella]: What year was that again?
[SPEAKER_00]: I went in treatment on July 7th of 2023. July 8th will be three years. Wow. Yeah. Active recovery for me, which is amazing. I couldn't get 30 days in about three years.
[John Petrella]: That's great though.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[John Petrella]: That's really something.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what it's done for my life, you know what I mean? From where I was to where I am today. Yeah. I mean, I'm sitting here, we're doing a podcast, we're talking recovery, we're talking the city of Medford, we're talking all positives and just trying to bring awareness to drug addiction and addiction itself can happen to anybody.
[John Petrella]: It's incredible what you accomplished, but it can be done.
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely can be done. If I can do it. If I can do it, anyone can do it.
[John Petrella]: That's the word. If I can do it, then anyone can do it. Absolutely.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I was a f****** f******. I like to party, have fun, do the best job on the weekends. I like to hang out. I like to be on the horses. I like to have fun. I never got married, never had any kids. Substance abuse literally stole that from me.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't going to get involved in a relationship with somebody that was an active addiction.
[John Petrella]: And you did the right thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I couldn't do one with someone not an active addiction because they would have saw right through it. Right. So I just isolated, self-harm, and you know, a lot of torture. But for what I went through to get me to where I am today, it was worth every second.
[John Petrella]: That's what I mean. It was all worth it.
[SPEAKER_00]: All worth it. Absolutely. You wouldn't change anything. Wouldn't change anything because it got me to where I need to be today.
[John Petrella]: And you know, You had a good support system. Always. Yeah, and that's one of the big things, no matter what, because I've, friends of mine, I've seen it, I've watched it, and it's the support system. Yeah. People didn't give up on you.
[SPEAKER_00]: So my father was the head of the electrical department at Northeastern University. Put me and my brother through Northeastern for free. My brother ends up hooked on heroin, 20 years overdoses, I'm hooked on pills. Like my father still has communion money. He don't gamble, he don't drink, he didn't drug, he plays golf. He's 82 years old, he's still golfing two to three days a week. So my mom, great person, Charlestown Irish Catholic, had old school, like she didn't deal with, like they didn't grow up with that. For me and my brother to put them through that, that wasn't right.
[John Petrella]: But it's all good now.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's all good now. My mom passed away, yeah, 2012. But she didn't get to see me clean and sober. But my dad gets to see it.
[John Petrella]: That's good.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a good feeling.
[John Petrella]: I think your mother knows.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, she knows. Got an angel on my shoulder. No question about it. No doubt about it. Her and my brother. I got one on the left, one on the right.
[John Petrella]: All right, so it's a great story. It's a difficult story. We appreciate it. So a lot of people, even today, OK? I mean, I'm more familiar how it was back in my time. There's a lot of, you know, how difficult, let's get to you personally. How difficult was it for you, you know, to reach out, find a recovery program? I mean, you know, you talked a little bit about your road to recovery. You know, how did you, I mean, you explained how you reached out and everything, but what was the, how easy was it, once you were in there, for the recovery to continue?
[SPEAKER_00]: So once I was in there, actually, it was really easy, I'm not gonna lie, because they set me up to succeed right off the bat. Once I go in, July 7th, 2023, they take my phone, they assign me a caseworker, and tell them what happened to me, why I was there. And right off the bat, we're gonna put together a plan, as long as you're open to it, and you're open to suggestions, and you take suggestions, like a lot of people will go into treatment thinking they know the answers, right? Right. They think, oh, I can go up there, I can clean up, get back out, go back to work, like I knew that I needed to change my life 100%. So whatever that was gonna take, for me, I was open to do. So whatever they told me to do, I was just gonna say, I'm gonna try it. So I was open to suggestions, I was looking to trust the process, And following my caseworker's lead, I was able to complete 28 days, right, inpatient, Liberty Bay, Portland, Maine. And then I went to a sober house for a couple of months in Malden. Pat the mailman, originally a Medford guy.
[John Petrella]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he's originally a Medford guy and big around here in the recovery community. A lot of people know Pat. He owns a home, a couple of sober homes. He's got one out of Malden. Yeah, I just took suggestions and as long as I was feeling good and I was getting back to being me, I just knew that things were working and why not keep following what was working. And that's what I've done since day one in recovery. If it's not broke, don't fix it.
[John Petrella]: You know, I know this is, I mean, you're talking about yourself personally, but it is different for everybody. Absolutely. What works for you may not work for someone else. Correct. Everyone sort of has to find, you know, their own path, put it that way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Correct. Some people might go in once, some people 10, 20, whatever it takes. As long as you keep trying, there's so many things out there now. Medical assisted treatment, there's Suboxone, there's the shots. I'm on a Vivitrol shot. It's called medical assisted treatment. I get a shot in my butt once a month and all it is is a blocker. There's no side effect. There's no withdrawal from it. It's not an opiate. They use it for people for alcohol. There's tools out there. We learn tools in recovery. I was able to learn tools like this MAT. I went from no opiates in treatment. I didn't go on Suboxone. I got off all the stuff and I go on that Vivitrol shot once a month. I could stop tomorrow, but the insurance covers it. You know, so it's a blessing to have these types of things. It's worth it. Absolutely. So there are tools to every addict or person suffering through substance abuse. There's tools out there, medication, you know, outpatient treatment. There's so many different things available. You just got to be able to know who to call and you know how to follow up on it.
[John Petrella]: Right. Yeah. And I think another big part of it is you got to want the help.
[SPEAKER_00]: You gotta want it. It's really hard work, I'm not gonna lie. But I'm gonna say this, how much I've traveled, how many concerts, how many sporting events, how many different things that I've done that I didn't do for literally, I'm not saying 20 years, but the last few years of addiction where I wouldn't leave my house unless to work or to be high. Every single thing that I do today is because of this recovery program that I continue to work on a daily basis.
[John Petrella]: And that's great.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have to. You just can't go to detox and think that's it. I'm going to come out and things are going to change. I know this is something I need to do the rest of my life without fail.
[John Petrella]: And it's work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every single day. Every single day. It's 24-7, 365. And that's just how it is. And I'm fine with that.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, yeah, that's a great story. You know, a lot of families have been affected by, you know, the problems, the chaos of addiction. They suffer with the addict. You know, it's a difficult time for everyone involved. You know, what advice if any? You know, and this is a tough question. I, you know, what advice can you offer to people that are involved? Whether it's a, you know, geez, I know siblings. I mean, I know so many families when I was growing up, there was always somebody that was having a problem. You know, I don't have an answer. I mean, what advice can you give? I mean, is there any advice?
[SPEAKER_00]: There's definitely help available, number one. Like I said, I didn't know when I was in active addiction what type of services were available until I needed them. So if you're employed, use your employee assistance if you have one. If you have MassHealth, There's probably a number on the back of your card. Right. And the service is an 800 number. So right off the bat, at least if you have health insurance, you should be able to get yourself into some sort of treatment. Right. And if it's on inpatient, outpatient or something, it's just it's going to be the need and the want and how much people are willing to do it. Right. In dealing with families like I had, the families don't know how to deal with this. If they haven't been through it themselves, it's like watching a car wreck and you can't stop it. Some families enable, some don't. It's a no-win situation, but each family, all I know is if you look up services available for family members, there's self-help meetings. They're available. There's AANA. There's all sorts of different groups for all people around in the city of Medford. I attend a group on Tuesday nights down on Oakland Street at the First Baptist Church. It's technically for first responders, but it's like a professional's meeting. And that just started. Chris Summa runs it. He's a recovery coach out of Medford. And then they also run a group, I think, him and Paul Stone, is that his name?
[John Petrella]: Jason.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jason Stone, I apologize. I've only met him once.
[John Petrella]: We've had him on the show. in my opinion, is like, they do meetings and everything else, and they're under, I think it's the Board of Health, it's a whole, but they do phenomenal work.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they have a meeting at Medford City Hall on Wednesdays at 4.30, and I think they buy pizza and chicken fingers and salad and drinks, so if you want a good recovery meet and show up at Medford City Hall, second floor, Wednesdays, You might see me pop in here and there during the week and try to get that, but I'm at Tuesday nights, no doubt about it, over at the First Baptist Church, and we're trying to get as many members possible. So if you're out there, you work for the city of Medford, some people are afraid with the stigma, having to deal with people they're gonna thank, you know what I mean? I know people don't swear, but I don't give a **** what people think, you know what I mean? I apologize, I'm sorry for the swearing.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, that's okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what I mean? I've been through a lot. I know, I know. I need to do what's best for me, so if you need to break the stigma for me being here talking about this, get you in the door if you want to come to a meeting, you know, I'm there. We can talk, hang out, and whatever I can do to help somebody, you know, I'm available. I have my Facebook account, you know, Greg Carbonello. I'm on Instagram, gcarby1076.
[John Petrella]: So people can reach out.
[SPEAKER_00]: People can reach out to me.
[John Petrella]: You're willing to help.
[SPEAKER_00]: Willing to help. Whatever I can do, that's why I'm here. Tell my story, what happened to me. I'm a white-collar kid, you know what I mean, from Medford. It happened to me. It can happen to anybody.
[John Petrella]: Right. You brought up Jason and Chris, and I know they're under the Method Health Department. They're a great program, and I'm going to tell you, when we had them on the show, the feedback was incredible. I mean, a lot of people really uh, didn't, we're not aware of what all the programs they offer in the city. It's, it's incredible how many people don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I still don't know. I'm not going to lie. I know some of them, but yeah, I can say this though about mall. Can I bring up Malden? I know we're in Medford, but you can bring it up. The bridge recovery. If you'll, I mean bridge recovery in Malden, this place is excellent services. It's open all the time. They got food, they got, they got all sorts of meetings, treatment, they got a case where they got, So much, like I'm on a board out of Randolph, an opiate abatement committee that they formed from the Department of Mental Health. And you know, the amount of money that each city gets, like Medford gets so much money each year from the federal opiate abatement funds. So that's supposed to be put towards treatment and helping people. So hopefully, you know, that they get that money and they start using it. I'm not sure what type of programs they're running, but these self-help meetings that I'm attending, You know, it would be nice to see more programming available and make it accessible on Facebook groups or whatever. I just would like to see a lot more postings if they were available.
[John Petrella]: You know, I don't want to get into too much, but I am seeing, you know, I travel here, there locally, certain places, whatever. I hate to see it, but it seems like there's an increase of Things going on with the drug use, and I'm not sure what they're using nowadays, but it's just, it's like, it's powerful stuff, whatever it is, I'll say that, or it seems like it's a lot more powerful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I know what it is, it's fentanyl, and the stuff is killing people. It is. It's legit poison. They're putting it in fake pills. They're putting it in, like you can't buy anything anymore unless you go to a legal, I'm saying medical marijuana, which is legal, you go to a dispensary. Do not buy anything off anyone or be taking anything that someone gives you off the street because one might be, one pill can kill.
[John Petrella]: And that's it.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's it. It's over. Fentanyl, like how many kids of families have lost loved ones over, they don't even use drugs. They just happened to take something, and that was it. Game over. And that's sad. That happens to more people than we know.
[John Petrella]: Because you are, you hear about it a lot more. Much more than ever before.
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
[John Petrella]: And I'm seeing, it seems like I see people that you know, need some help. A lot more people need help out there, that's all. That's the best way to put it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully, about the NACAN, is NACAN training available? Right, yeah. So, also that money that come in from the opiate abatement is supposed to be put to, you know, train. I know in Randolph, they go to schools, they opened up a center to have education and awareness, and they're teaching the kids in high school and talking, and they're going to the football games, the hockey games, the basketball games, they're setting up tables and they're talking. So, maybe Medford can start doing stuff like that. Just get back into the community and it'll make people aware of what's going on.
[John Petrella]: I want to get back to something. Yeah. And I just, you know, with the families, okay, and you said something, you know, it struck a chord with me, not for any particular reason, but, and I know a lot of families, you know, I'm going back a ways, that dealt with all this stuff, and you used the word enabler. And it's, you know, that's such an important word when it comes to addictions and everything else. And I, you know, I've seen, you know, mothers, whatever, I'm not gonna get, but it's like, I don't even think they realize, you know, what's going on. Do you?
[SPEAKER_00]: So all I can tell you is this. When my mother and my brother and I, you know, were in the house, and my brother was an active addiction.
[John Petrella]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he'd go out and come in, he'd go in and out of treatment, detoxes, and she'd keep letting him back. Right. And she'd be like, that's my kid. That's my kid. It's not your son. It's your brother, but that was my mother's son. Right. You know what I mean? So no matter what, again, every parent, every story is different, and I can understand that now. Right. But at the end of the day, did it help? Probably not.
[John Petrella]: Probably not, yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, the money, the enabling, the finance, like this ruins people financially. Right. It's more than just the drug. It affects the whole family. Yeah. Everybody's affected.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: From the brothers to the sister, whoever's involved, it just... It's the whole family is along for the ride. It just doesn't take out the person addicted. It takes out the whole family.
[John Petrella]: Right, and it's difficult. It's so difficult. And I've seen, you know, like I say, I've seen some parents, you know, great parents. I mean, the kids, I grew up with them. They were great. All of a sudden they got involved. And I don't want to say it was accidental that they started using, but it was more recreational. for recreational reasons. And then the next thing you know was boom, you know, more, more, more different. And they went up the road. And, you know, it's, it's like, but the, the, you know, I think like you a little bit, it was like they were enabled.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[John Petrella]: You know, they, they, sort of had a place to come back to no matter what.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of stigma involved. Families are afraid, like when stuff's happening, by me talking about it, it breaks the stigma. Right. You know what I mean? And that's a good thing. And I spoke in Revere, they had a stomp out stigma the year a couple years ago, I spoke on that. And it's like, This happened to me. I graduated Northeastern, College of Criminal Justice, worked for the state attorneys, and I'm hooked on opiates. But I also beat it, and here I am. It's a success. I was going to swear, I apologize. It's that city thing, it's CPRE, it's all about. Yeah, but again, like I said, uh, it's it's it's Medford in general man this it does not destroy it can happen anyway Don't matter how much money your family's making how much no difference makes no difference
[John Petrella]: I gotta ask you, what is your advice to anyone, and I know we've talked about just about everything now, but looking to get into a recovery program, where does one go? I know you're brought up about at work and things like that, but what is it, how do you get involved to begin You know, on the road to recovery. I mean, you made a decision, boom, and that was it. You were on your road. How do other people, what is it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, each case obviously is different, but I'm just thinking from my perspective. hope you can make your first time your last time. Right. You know, if you got family and everybody's trying to work to get somebody help, there's so many services available now. It's not like before. You know, if you're on Facebook, social media, it's just available. Right. And as long as you have insurance, They're gonna find you somewhere. You just gotta be willing to go.
[John Petrella]: Willing to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I was gonna go wherever they sent me. Like if they told me, you gotta go to Florida, would've loved it, but I'm saying, I called my 800 number, said I need a bed, punched in my information, we got a place called Liberty Bay, Portland, Maine, can you be there Friday morning, July 7th? I'm like, absolutely. And that was it. You know, I had to tell my employer, listen, need help? They were great. wish me success, you know, I didn't know what I was going into, I just, my friend told me trust the process.
[John Petrella]: And that's all you can do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Great advice.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Great advice. And I've been doing it since, taking suggestions, attending meetings. Right. You know, just being involved, you have to actively work your recovery, like we've been saying, have to actively work it every day. It's the rest of your life. Right. You got to look at it that way. It never ends. You just got to adjust to this is my new life. I can have a lot of fun, but I just can't have it. Drugs and alcohol.
[John Petrella]: Right. Yeah. Yeah. And I, it's unbelievable because, you know, I remember a lot of my friends, you know, with the drinking, it was like bad, bad, bad. They used to call them functioning alcoholics back in our time.
[Unidentified]: Yeah.
[John Petrella]: And I used to be like, whoa, how are they going to work every day? How are they, You know, it was incredible. But then easy. No, it isn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not easy to be it's hotter. It's hotter to live that way. Yeah, there's some more advice. It's hotter to be an active addiction at work. Then do be sober.
[John Petrella]: Yes, because I used to always be like, How do they do it? You know, how? I mean, they're drinking hard liquor in the morning, the afternoon, the evening.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot of work.
[John Petrella]: And they're holding down jobs, and they're family, and I'm like, oh my god. But luckily, most of them found recovery, and things worked out for them. But I'm going to get into the last question that we have for you. You know, what does, and I'm gonna say, what does our, you know, current recovery support system, what does that look like today's world? You know, and what do you, I know you've said a little bit about what you are actively doing today. You attend meetings, you do all that, but what is the, what's out there? I mean, if you could put it all together, you know, a support system. Where does it start, Greg? That's the question I'm asking. Does it start with your parents? Does it start with yourself?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean... I think it starts with education. Okay. I think it needs to be... Again, I don't have children. I haven't put them through school. I don't know what type of education they're doing at Medford High or other public schools. Okay. They should have people coming in and talking. I remember when I was in high school, they filmed it with Derek Sanderson. He came in talking about how he was drunk and drugged out in City Hall. And I can remember that. And I can remember that. So if I can remember that now in 2026, and I heard that conversation in the late 80s, I still think they can get back to that. bringing people in, you know, support. There's so many people now, like, I think being in recovery is cool. Like, to me, I don't look at it as a down, like, I think it's cool, man. There's so many people that are promoting this now. And it's available. So you don't need to live in the shadows. You don't need to be embarrassed. You don't need to hide. You can deal with this publicly. And it's a public health issue, right? It's an epidemic, the opiate epidemic. Somehow I survived it. And so I'm here to speak on it.
[John Petrella]: We're happy you did.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm happy I did too, but.
[John Petrella]: And this is great what you're doing. Talking about it, you know, it's, it really is. I, I can't thank you enough. I appreciate it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it helps in my recovery as well. Right. You know what I mean? Because this is what my story, this is what happened to me and it can happen to your neighbor, right? Your cousin.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're anybody's kid. It's just, it's not the homeless person on Malena Cass, right? It's anybody. Right. It's anybody. Addiction can happen. And now with the gambling at the Encore and the casino, like we're heading, I'm telling you, I, I was ahead of the curve back in, back when I was in high school, you know, marijuana, you know, gambling, they're both legal now.
[John Petrella]: Yeah. I couldn't agree with you more. And I was like, you know, legalizing gambling, you know, I don't know. I mean, you, you knew it was going to happen eventually. I mean, but I know that that's, Another thing that I had a lot of friends with, I'm talking gambling big bucks, and boy, you could get in some trouble.
[SPEAKER_00]: Addiction. Yeah. One of the worst. Right, right. It's almost like opiates. They say what type of the brain, just like opiates. It's probably worse. Probably worse. Financially, it's worse.
[John Petrella]: Financially, you're heading for ruins.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[John Petrella]: Yeah. We're going to have you back on again. I mean, there's so much more, but you really did a great job.
[SPEAKER_00]: I appreciate it. I did my best.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, no, you did a great job. I think, you know, we got a great message out today. And that's what we want to do on this show. You know, be informed people what's going on, what's happening. And thank you so much for joining us. And, you know, is the stigma one last question. The stigma. Is it less now than when we were young? I'm just curious. Do you think it's still that, like, really bad out there?
[SPEAKER_00]: All I can say is this. For me? Yeah. For me. This is my stigma. Personally. Personally.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Friends? Excellent. Work? My immediate office? Excellent.
[John Petrella]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Besides that, it's still there. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
[John Petrella]: And it's never going to go away.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm trying to change it, but I can only do my best. You know what I mean? I can only do my best by doing these.
[John Petrella]: And that's the key. You are doing your best.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm doing my best every day by, you know, spreading the word.
[John Petrella]: Yep. No, it's great. All right. So, you know, I want to thank you again, Greg, for joining us on Method Happenings. We all wish you continued success. I really mean that. It was great to have you on. I also want to take a minute. I want to thank everyone who has been watching the show. I want to thank you all for your feedback. And if you would like to appear on the show, you can contact us at metfithappenings02155 at gmail.com and you will be able to watch replays of this program on Metfit Community Media Access Channel. You can check out our website metfithappenings.com And you can now either view or listen to this as a podcast, and you can find all of our shows on YouTube. Just go to youtube.com, search for Method Happenings. Please like and subscribe when you do. You can also find us on Facebook at Method Happenings. We also have our own subreddit, whatever that is, and you can find us at reddit.com slash R slash Method Happenings. So for the Method Happenings team, John, Paul, Marco, Bruce, James, and Joe, I'm John Petrella. Remember, Method, stay informed. Thank you all. Did great, Greg.
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