One Day at a Time: In Recovery in Baltimore

Theo switches it up and talks drug policy with University of Baltimore President and former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, whose political career suffered in the late eighties and nineties on account of his controversial ideas about addiction as a public health issue, not a crime problem.

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Theo’s guest, George, went to jail at a young age. While he was incarcerated, his father killed his mother. When he got out, his brother-in-law got him hooked on heroin. In the years that followed, he was shot, stabbed, and jailed multiple times. He sold dope, he stole, and he did whatever it took to get drugs. Today, he’s 34 years clean. George and Theo discuss the challenge of boredom that can come with sobriety, the temptation to replace one addiction for another, and the philosophical differences between abstinence and medically-assisted harm reduction approaches to recovery.

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Theo welcomes Laura, who recounts the story of her struggle with heroin and crack cocaine. The resulting addiction cost her a nursing career, a house, her freedom, and her relationship with her parents and kids. Theo and Laura discuss anger at God, Jackpot Prayers, surrendering to addiction, and the importance of asking for help.

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Theo makes his debut behind the mic, introduces himself, and shares his back-story of addiction, detox, and recovery. Theo’s guest, Glenn, talks about his own introduction to alcohol and drugs. Glenn got hooked on heroin at age 15 and spent the next several decades alternating between homelessness and incarceration. In 2008, he went into treatment. He’s been clean 10 years. Theo and Glenn talk about the concept of ‘unlearning,’ the challenge of dealing with cravings and drug dreams, and the benefits of service.

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