Emily Souther's story: At 16 years old I dropped out of highschool and got my GED. I moved out of my home and got an apartment with my boyfriend. I went to work full-time for my father at his landscape company. I was a good kid who struggled in school and just couldn't do it anymore. My parents had divorced a few years prior and at this time my mom and sister moved to Hawaii. At this point in my life I didn't drink or do drugs. I was trying to be an adult and that meant I had bills and responsibilities. At 18 years old I found myself hanging more with the wrong type of people and this lead me to drinking and eventually trying weed. After turning down trying coke so many times I finally have in and tried for the first time at a party. I loved the way it made me feel. I felt alive and on fire. I knew it was my drug. I only did it on weekends for the first few months. Eventually that led to a few times during the week and then that quickly led to every day. After finding my grandmother dead in her driveway my life quickly unraveled and I found myself smoking crack and doing everything I could to escape my pain. In 2007 I led police on a high speed chase that ended in a car crash and with me on the 5' o'clock news. This was my point of no return. April 7, 2007 is the day I got sober and I've never looked back. Today I am married to a police officer and I still work for my father as a landscaper. I have a blog where I write to help those suffering from drug addiction and eating disorders.