A coworker told me a story about her recent jury duty and how that experience really opened her eyes to the realities of drug abuse. She was surprised to learn how people addicted to drugs often end up living.

The trial was about a drug dealer that had killed one of his customers. The addict had been a former tough man contest winner. He knocked the over-six-foot tall drug dealer out in one punch. When the dealer awoke, he went home to get a gun.

When he returned to the scene he shot and killed the man who had knocked him out cold. During the trial, this peddler of street pharmaceuticals admitted that this was a matter of pride for him.

Unfortunately, that pride led to the death of another junkie. He was also rewarded with a twenty year all-expense-paid incarceration courtesy of the State. Aside from the inherent sadness of this story, my co-worker also discovered how the life of a drug user often becomes a depressing reality.

She found that there were people that would actually rent garages and sheds to have a place to stay. Their drug habits apparently took so much of their money that all they could afford was a garage or shed to rent. I can't imagine how horrible that would be in the winter time.

My friend was also surprised to see all the toothless drug addicts that came to the trial to testify. Drug use itself can sometimes destroy teeth. However, it is also very likely that these people don't have the means to care for their teeth or don't care too. I imagine that if you were living in a garage or a shed, you might not have access to running water either.

Most tooth loss is due to gum disease rather than cavities. People who have access to toothpaste and dental floss can't usually prevent gum disease even with those tools. Whatever the reason, these drug users had lost many of their teeth.

Tooth loss may be just one of the consequences of drug addiction. When a habit takes over your life to such an extend that you no longer care about how or where you live, you have definitely fallen into a pit that might be hard to climb out of.

Some people that end up in that pit were once very functional people in society. That was true before the addiction took over. Some have children that they can no longer care for. Worse, they may not be willing to nurture anything except their addiction.

Even Hollywood occasionally shows the sad reality of how drug addicts live in movies such as, Less than Zero. Robert Downey Jr. plays Julian, a drug addict from an above average upbringing who turns to male prostitution to pay for his drug use.

His friends try to rescue him, but it is too late. He has gone too far and dies of an overdose. The end scene shows his friends crying as they drive down the highway with the head of their dead friend's body resting on one of their shoulders where it fell the moment after he died.

Don't let anything like that happen to you or someone you love. Drug use is serious. If you are in any stage of drug use, including the very beginning stages, you should probably look at a seeing your doctor to find out what your options are before it is too late.