Tim Rader can remember thinking he had made it in life, after spending his high school and college years partying and doing drugs.
As a college grad, about to marry his dream girl and working for a pharmaceutical company, Rader figured he was safe.
“I’m immune to the consequences of drugs and alcohol,” Rader thought to himself. “I’m truly invincible.”
But his access to prescription drugs at work, and a nagging addiction that followed him through life, led him to spiral back into drug addiction and eventually turn to heroin.
He lost everything — the wife, the job, the respect of his family. He almost killed himself.
Rader’s story, told to hundreds of Seymour High School students Friday, is meant to be a cautionary tale: Drug addiction can affect anyone, and will ruin your life.
It’s one told at countless high schools across the state and country each year, as educators hope to stem drug and alcohol use before students engage in reckless behavior, especially coming up on prom and graduation season.
But in the Valley this year it hits closer to home.
The Problems
Drug-fueled burglaries in the Valley filled the news this past year.
A young woman was recently sentenced to prison for her actions as a result of heroin addiction. She had mugged a 91-year-old woman, and burglarized several homes.
And a former middle school administrator in Derby was arrested for having pills at his school. That court case is pending.
CDC data shows that drug overdoses are becoming a trend in Connecticut, according to Pam Mautte, the director for the Valley Substance Abuse Action Council.
Data for 2009 shows that the leading cause of death for people aged 10 through 44 in Connecticut was unintentional injuries. Click here to see the data on the CDC website.
For teens and young adults — aged 15 through 24 — that most often means car accidents, according to the data.
But for people 25 through 44, that most often means drug overdoses.
And overdoses are the second leading cause of death for the younger group, according to the data.
“This topic is very important right now,” Mautte said. “Prescription drug abuse is an emerging trend both nationally, state-wide and locally.”
The Valley Substance Abuse Action Council recently released a special report on the problem to help parents understand the risks.
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Mautte said Friday’s program helps put a face on drug addiction for the students — and shows drug abuse can happen to anyone, including a former high school football player who beat cancer.
An Ex-Junkie’s Tale
That’s what happened to Rader. His first taste of prescription meds came when he was getting cancer treatments as a high school student. He beat cancer, but never moved past the addiction to the way the medication made him feel.
Rader’s talk also points out an oft-missed fact: Students who experiment with drugs might see no consequences during their high school and college years.
But the problems will come, he told Seymour students.
“Just because I messed around a little bit, addiction watched me, and waited,” Rader said.
And when he became an adult, Rader said, the addiction pounced.
Rader started out as a functioning addict. He continued to go to work, and hid the problem from his fiancee.
But it soon got worse. When his supply of prescription pills was cut off, Rader turned to heroin. His productivity went down. He was lying to the woman he loved.
“I had to plan my whole day around this chemical,” he said.
Then he overdosed one day — and woke up in the hospital to find the engagement ring sitting on the table next to his bed.
“Who wants to be married to a junkie?” he said.
Rader became homeless, looking for his next fix.
“The drugs stopped working,” Rader said. “I was only taking them to not be sick.”
He almost killed himself one day, before deciding to get help.
Now he travels the country, talking to high school students about the dangers of drugs, hoping to convince them to stay away from them.
Education Programs
Rader said he sat through similar assemblies as a student — and never believed what he heard because at the time his experience with drugs did not lead to destruction.
“I always thought I was getting lied to, or getting half-truths because my experiences weren’t adding up,” Rader said. “If you’re not seeing consequences now, it’s because you’re not supposed to. That’s part of addiction’s plan.”
The message — and the message that drugs and alcohol can also have an immediate disastrous impact on students’ lives — is the focus of several programs and assemblies at high schools in the area during the Spring.
A lot deal with alcohol, because of proms and graduations.
Seymour and Oxford, for example, have planned their annual “Take a Stand” day for April 27, where a mock car crash shows the dangers of drinking and driving.
Click play to see WTNH video from last year’s event.
Seymour will also host a Tobacco Free day with the U.S. Marines and Action Sports Entertainment Co., where X‑Games athletes will put on a skateboard show on a 60-foot half pipe at the school.
At Shelton High School, officials plan a week of programming on prevention, according to Headmaster Beth Smith. The programming includes a presentation by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and a mock car crash.
Derby High School plans to bring Rader to speak to the students there in the upcoming weeks, Principal Greg Galliard said.
