From Hoops to Heroin - Chris Herren shares his story at Ridgefield High School

Last night, Ridgefield High School's Anne S. Richardson Auditorium was standing room only as students and parents packed the room to hear the story of NBA star, Chris Herren. The program, brought about through the efforts of The Ridgefield Prevention Council and MCCA, was thought provoking. Drugs – literally taking over someone’s life – someone like Chris Herren. Could this happen to me? To my child?  

For 14 years Chris Herren existed in a drug-induced state. He chose drugs over every thing else in his life- his wife and children, friends and his career. Now, the former NBA player, shares the good the bad and the ugly, hoping to reach and inspire one kid at a time.

At the age of 18, this talented athlete from Massachusetts, was told he would be in Sports Illustrated, perhaps even on the cover. He was a Boston College basketball star, one who had a promising carrier ahead of him. One night of cocaine turned the rising star into an addict. “A girl in my dorm room said, Try it Chris, it won’t kill you. I promised I’d do it only once. I never knew it would take 14 years to stop,” says Herren. And, little did Herren know that the day after his evening snorting coke, Boston College would give him a drug test. “I promised the coach it wouldn't happen again,” recalls Herren.

 But it happened again and again. And again. Herren moved from one drug to the next, overdosing on heroin, becoming a felon. “I never met an addict that said they started with heroin. They all start with a red cup and a joint; they end up with a needle,” says Herren.

From the age of four, Herren dreamed of becoming an NBA star. He had the chance, but threw it all away. God had bigger plans for Herren. “When I was first asked to tell my story to an audience of 1800 kids in a Massacheuttes High School, I said, Please God let me make the difference in one kid’s life, says Herren. And he has made a difference in many, many lives.

Tonight, at the end of Herren’s talk, girls, boys, young and old, stood up telling Herren how they have been helped by his story. “I’m an addict,” said one girl. “I drove 1 ½ to hear you talk- I’m an alcoholic,” said another. "My child is 10, is it too soon to speak to him about drugs,?" asked an audience member.

Herren travels the country telling kids his story in the hopes of saving even one kid from going down the path of destruction. He has created The Herren Project. “It pays the cost of treatment for parents who can’t afford it,” he explains.  He has also created The Project Purple- the evolution of which stemmed from a talk Chris gave at a High School when he noticed kids sitting together wearing purple shirts. They symbolized the student’s pledge not to use drugs or alcohol. “This year, from January 11-13, the skyline of Boston will be purple,” says Herren.

Some facts:

• 1 in 6 Teens has used a prescription drug in order to get high or change their mood. -The Partnership at Drugfree.org                                                                                              
• Every day, more than 2,000 kids use a prescription medicine to get high for the first time. -The Partnership at Drugfree.org                                                        
• 90% of addictions get their start in the teenage years. – The Partnership at Drugfree.org
• One person dies every 19 minutes from a drug overdose in the United States.                                                
• There are 25 million addicts in the US, only 2.5 million get help.

 *photo credit (group) Marita Bonanni