The opposite of addiction is human connection. And I think that has massive implications for the war on drugs. The treatment of drug addicts almost everywhere in the world is much closer to Tent City than it is to anything in Portugal. Our laws are built around the belief that drug addicts need to be punished to stop them. But if pain and trauma and isolation cause addiction, then inflicting more pain and trauma and isolation is not going to solve that addiction. It's actually going to deepen it.
I was up around 340 pounds because the producers said they wanted a really big guy, and I'm not that big, you know! I've lost it all now though. I'm 285 pounds, my sexy weight!
I was up around 340 pounds because the producers said they wanted a really big guy - and I'm not that big, you know! I've lost it all now though. I'm 285 pounds, my sexy weight!
[T]he truth is that drug addicts have a disease. It only takes a short time in the streets to realize that out-of-control addiction is a medical problem, not a form of recreational or criminal behavior. And the more society treats drug addiction as a crime, the more money drug dealers will make "relieving" the suffering of the addicts.
I didn't own a record player when I was younger. I just played every day after school and then started gigging around town. I heard bands and songs through friends of mine, but a lot of what I picked up on was learned by traveling through college towns.
Growing up my heroes were American motocross riders. I didn't want to be a drummer; I wanted to be a motocross rider.
I've kind of banned myself from motorcycles. I've had broken ribs, broken shoulder, wrists, leg, broken collarbone - and it was all from motocross or rugby. All of my injuries have come from outside of sailing.
I think the first thing that I thought I would go and do as a career was be a rugby player. I had a trial with a club and it became very clear, very quickly that that wasn't going to be what I would end up doing. I was far too small and far too much of a lightweight, both mentally and physically, to play rugby at that level.
I had daydreams and fantasies when I was growing up. I always wanted to live in a log cabin at the foot of a mountain. I would ride my horse to town and pick up provisions. Then return to the cabin, with a big open fire, a record player and peace.
Another California study counted 30,000 substance abusers who are pregnant are White woman. So, The Wire paints the picture of drug addiction, drug dealing, and drug abuse as being a specifically a Black issue.
The socio-economic impact of gambling addiction is comparable to drug and alcohol addiction
I was playing like a rugby league player with 14 rugby players.
I've always seen myself as a big light heavyweight fighter, I have a big frame and walk around quite heavy. So I've always had to cut around 33 lbs to make weight.
I played rugby for years, and I had a rugby jacket that I lost when I was 14. Somehow, my brother found it in storage 15 years later, and he gave it back to me for my 30th birthday. That was amazing and probably one of the best gifts I've ever received.
I wasn't picked for any of the sports teams at school because I was half the size of everyone else, but now everyone assumes I must have been some sort of rugby player.
My loves in life are food, history and rugby. I'd love to be a history professor or a rugby player but I prefer rugby and my career would end by the time I was 30, leaving me enough time to go and study history.