Book Review: Confessions of a Crack Head by Zach Samuels

I work with the homeless here in Calgary, addiction isfaces, he doesn't 'use' because he wants to, in fact
a word that we hear a lot of, drugs, booze, andoften he doesn't want to, he wishes nothing better
gambling are the big three. Often addicts are plaguedthan to be able to drive right on by the dealer's
by other mental health issues, depression, bi-polar,house. But inevitably he does stop, inevitably he buys
and a variety of other medical terms outside of myas much as he can, and inevitably he cannot stop at
realm of knowledge.one or two hits.
There have been plenty of books written aboutAfter the money in the bank is gone, and all your
addictions, but Confessions Of A Crack Head ispossessions are just a memory where do you go
different, it is written by the addict, and takes usnext? You defraud the bank with fake ATM
through the torrid reality of the sickness.deposits, you steal money, you kite cheques, you
Maybe the most disturbing aspect of this book issteal, you do anything you can to get that next hit.
that there may well not be a happy ending. Zach'sZach did all of these and more.
story is a sad one indeed. He is a well educated guy,As I said earlier, I see Zach everyday, and it is sad. A
had a beautiful wife, home, and baby. Then hecouple of months ago he visited my Computer Lab,
discovers the demon Crack Cocaine, possibly one ofin the mornings I teach, and because I wanted to
the most addictive substances ever created.make some minor changes to a PowerPoint
Sure Zach is a compulsive, but few people regardlesspresentation I had left my Laptop and Digital
of their mental make up can resist this drug. In theProjector set up. In the blink of an eye, the laptop
space of an eight month time frame Zach hits detoxwas gone, they (there were two of them) didn't
and rehab 4 times. His, unfortunately is not a uniqueeven bother to take the power adapter. The
story, I see Zach on a daily basis, sometimes he ismachine was password protected, the serial number
black, sometimes he is white, sometimes he isregistered, so it had a very low street value, but
female, but always he is helpless.enough to get that one more hit. Oh, and this was
As Zach explains, when you do Crack you rapidlydone under a CCTV system, they were arrested the
become completely out of control, the only thing thatnext day!
matters is where that next hit is coming from. In aConfessions Of A Crack Head should be on
two day period he spent $2,500 on the drug. Was iteveryone's reading list, for the would-be user it
for the 'high?' No is the simple answer, when usingshould scare you into the next century, for any
heavy you need to keep it in your system to merelyparent that is worried about son Johnny and drugs,
maintain. The withdrawal symptoms are too grim tothis will give you sleepless nights.
even contemplate.Zach, I know that is not your real name, and I know
It did not take long for Zach to crash hard, losing hisyou have moved the locations around to protect the
family, and piece by piece his possessions, and evenguilty. But I also know your story is a very true and
a place to live. From owning a $500,000 house tovery frightening one.
picking up butts from the pavement to smoke, inGenerally I like to grumble about spelling, grammar,
what seemed a blink of an eye.and editing, (of course I hate it when I am on the
One of the interesting aspects of this book is thereceiving side) but this is a book written from the
peppering of Daily Journal entries. While these onlyheart, and had it been over edited much of the 'core'
come from the 'clean' phase, you get a realwould have been lost.
understanding of his heartbreak. Time and time againYou can pick up your copy from Zach's website,
you get a real feel for the problem that an addictconfessionsofacrackhead dot net.