CANDY WARS, The Untold Stories

TROY’S STORY:
My name is Troy. I’m eight years old and have been addicted to GB for the last two years. It all started the second day of second grade I was playing dodge ball and I went to pick up a ball that rolled under the jungle gym and I met… HIM! His name was George; he was a third grader and was a cool kid. I saw his selling a kid a block of “K” or Kit Kat. When George saw me, he asked what I wanted; I wasn’t sure what he meant. He gave me a sample of gum I will always remember how sweet and chewy that first piece was. I found myself chasing that same sugar high every day. I started loosing all my old friends and getting new ones. I started stealing younger kids’ money and even worse…from my grandma! By that time I was falling so deep into the candy world I couldn’t feel any more. I was numb. That is when I started using BG or Gummy Bears. They were new and exciting, though more expensive compared to gum, but the effect lasted longer. I had to find a way to get more money so I started pimping off girls. At 25% earning I was rolling in GBs. Life was good for a long long time. After about two weeks my downfall was inevitable. One by one my girls were going to the more profitable side of the playground. Then one fateful day, I was buying a pound of GB and the principal caught us. I got 3 days of detention. That is when I knew I hit rock bottom. Everyday after was torture. It took five days to get all the sugar out of my system. After I was off for a week, I twitched constantly. I didn’t mean to let it get this bad. I’m sorry to everyone I’ve hurt.
Later that night Troy overdosed on homemade Gummy Bears. His heart exploded because of all the sugar in his system.

JOEY’S FRIEND’S STORY:
Man, second grade was the life. I thought I had it all until it all came crashing down and I hit rock bottom.
My friend Joey and I used to hang out all the time. We would go to each other’s houses and play with finger paint or make funny faces in the mirror. One day, I was over at Joey’s house when Joey’s brother Tommy walks up to us. Tommy was already in fifth grade and went to the middle school. He made fun of Joey and me a lot, but I thought he was really cool. This time he acted different though, he took us into his room and threw a little bag at us. “Try it, man,” he said. In the bag were gummy bears. I had heard of them but never thought I would have the opportunity to try them. I ate a couple and so did Joey. The three of us spent the rest of the day eating gummy bears in Tommy’s room, it was awesome. I was so hyper I forgot exactly what happened, but I woke up the next morning in my bed with a headache.
From then on I spent my days over at Joey’s eating gummy bears. After a while I got tired of gummy bears and asked Tommy for a Snickers. He said he would find me some, but for a price. To get the money I beat up little Billy across the street and took his lunch money. I couldn’t quit eating snickers though, and I was eating more and more everyday. I knew the only way I could support my habit was by dealing.
Dealing was the life. Joey and me would both deal during recess, but the monkey bars. I was selling everything I could get my hands on; bubble gum, double k, even M’Ms. I was bring in 40 cents a day, I felt richer than rich. Joey’s family moved away, but by then I didn’t really care, less competition I though. I started mixing M’Ms with snickers about this time, so I had to expand. I paid three first graders to steal bags of M’Ms for me so that I could sell them. I had so many kids hooked in my grade, and the demand always grew for more. I was pulling in $20 a week, holding hands with third grade girls, and paying off the class nerd to do my subtraction homework. I was going to pizza parties every Friday. Take it from me it was the life. I was the king of the playground.
I guess I got too cocky. One day, this kid dared me to eat my entire stash. I thought I was so cool that I could do anything. I was wrong, I threw it all up and everybody pointed and laughed at me. I ran inside crying. I realized that day I had a problem and vowed to quit. It was rough, the withdrawal was terrible, and I had to drink Diet Coke just so I could keep somewhat normal. It was hard, but I made it through. The kids still laughed at me, and I don’t have much money and I got beat up a lot by M’M addicts who had no where else to get their candy, but I am finally clean…except for the caffeine I got addicted to from the Diet Cokes.

JERRY’S STORY:
Hi, my name is Jerry. I’ve been addicted to M’Ms for about two years now. It all started back in second grade when a kid offered me a free piece of gum. I thought to myself, “Its only gum, everyone’s doing it.” So I took it. It was amazing! I've never had such a rush. I started using after that. I was up to five to six pieces a day. One time I got caught chewing in class and the teacher made me spit it out! Man, I was so angry with her!! The flavor wasn’t even gone! So I egged her house. About a week later the price increased. I was going through 50 to 60 cents a day. I remember stealing dimes out of my mother’s purse just to make it through the day. Then one day a kid came in with some home made snickers. They were kind of crude looking and cheap, but the gum just wasn’t as great as it used to be. I bought two of them for only 40 cents and ate them both. I was on the largest sugar high of my life and it lasted for several days. Man, that was great. After that I went straight to the hard stuff, M’Ms. They were more expensive then I was used to so I started dealing snickers to make a few bucks. A kid came in with some homemade snickers again, so I bought them all. A few days later I sold them all and made three times as much. I started buying in bulk. One time I went home and ate so many M’Ms that I passed out for hours. Then the candy tax came. I paid him a couple times because it wasn’t too bad. Then, one day he charged $6 for tax! I was like, “Six dollars!? That’s outrageous! I’m not paying that!” Five minutes later, an aid came up to me and told me someone said I had candy. She took all my M’Ms and called my parents. They were so mad I was grounded for a week. And that’s how I got here in rehab. I always though, “I can quit anytime I wanted, but I guess I was wrong. My name is Jerry…and I’m addicted to M’Ms.

MINDY’S STORY
Hello, my name is Mindy. I’ve been addicted to snickers since second grade. I was a good kid, always helping other people and being kind. It started one day when a new kid moved into the house next to mine. Her name was Shannon. I figured I’d be nice and play house with her on the weekends. I started hanging out with her more and one day when we were playing house she took a box out from under her bed. It was filled with snickers. I didn’t really know what it was at the time and she offered me one so I took it. It was great, so chewy and chocolaty. She said they were kind of expensive so I would have to pay for the next one. A few days went by and I got a craving for another. I broke open my piggy bank and counted all my money. I had $4.13. I started using heavier after that. I had to find ways of getting more money because I was going through at least $6 a week. I discovered boys would pay to hold my hand and carry my books. One time a boy paid me $3 to pretend I was his girlfriend. I felt so dirty after that but I kept doing it. All my old friends stopped asking me to hang out with them. They said I “changed.” I started to hang out with Shannon’s friends. One day one of Shannon’s friends brought a box of home made snickers to school and was selling them for 25 cents each. I was like, “OH MY GAWD!1!!1. TH@ IS SUCH A GR8 DEAL!1!!1” I bought half her stash. I started losing sleep after that. I would stay up for days on sugar highs. I even tried gum once, not for me. It didn’t give me the rush like snickers that was laced with M’Ms. My body couldn’t handle it and I passed out on my bedroom floor. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in the hospital. My parents found me unconscious and took me in and got my stomach pumped. That’s when I knew I hit rock bottom. I never knew I had a problem. I should have listened to my friends when they told me to quit. And that’s is why I'm here today in rehab. My name is Mindy, and I’m addicted to snickers.