The Press-Dispatch
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"At first they would give you small amounts, but then I got to the point they would give me chunks of it and I would go sell it. If you aren't working, you are not making $100 a day. At this point he was just trying to survive in the maze that is using and selling her- oin. "Every day it was good and evil, I realized there was something trying to kill me," said Cook. Eventually he tried rehab. "I checked into rehab, but I would walk out." He and a friend named Nate, who was caught in the same addiction, decid- ed they wanted to get free from heroin. They decided if they moved to Tucson it would be better. "I moved back down to Tucson and I called my par- ents in the middle of the night to get me into rehab. They left town and I walked out," said Cook. When this didn't work, he went cold turkey. "I went cold turkey for three months, got clean." But a crazy thing hap- pened. "I was in a touristy district in Tucson. A guy (named George) rides up on a bi- cycle. He said, 'Have you seen Craig.' He was so high he didn't know who I was or where he was." He said, 'When you see him (Craig) give him this, and he put a gram of heroin in my hand." Craig hadn't seen George in more than a year. "I knew at that moment it was light versus darkness, and I just wasn't strong enough. I wanted to throw it away, but at the same time I didn't want to throw it away. I knew it was a war." A war he was losing, and fast. "I was back into it again." Cook was now spiraling down like he never had be- fore. It was 1998 and he was 23 years old, dropped out of college and now in Tucson. "Eventually most people can't keep up with their hab- it. I couldn't keep up with the dealing of it. So, I just used it (heroin) all." Then he had a debt to peo- ple who weren't the most un- derstanding people about non-payment. "You have to avoid people, because you owe them mon- ey," said Cook. "I originally thought, I will deal enough to not get sick. Then you do it all and you can't pay for it. So that is where the secondary crime starts." "I mainly still tried to keep it together. You end up where, 'I need $100 today, where am I going to get it? ' Eventually every heroin ad- dict gets there." Now, instead of the antic- ipation of getting high, they are motivated by the dread of the sickness that comes with withdrawal. "Withdrawal is like the worst flu you have ever had. One hundred times that and getting hit by truck," said Cook. "Your whole deal goes from just trying to feel good and party to trying to not get sick." Cook said that point is when the crime and disease start to come in. People are willing to do anything to avoid that feeling, including theft and violence and shar- ing needles. "Someone would have one needle and heroin and make sure three of his friends wouldn't get sick." Cook said he had to be wary of strong-arm robbery himself. Guys would band together and then strong arm the drug dealers. "All the restraints come off when people are trying to figure out how to avoid that sickness. You would rob your grandmother," said Cook. The end was approaching and Cook knew it. "Ultimately I came to my end through an overdose." In June of 1998 Cook had moved to San Francisco. "I had lost everything. I had burned all my bridges in Eu- gene and got back into the whole selling-heroin-to-do- it-for-free thing." He said the Mission Dis- trict in San Francisco was "known to be where hero- in was cheap and needle ex- changes were readily avail- able. If you are just going to go die and use heroin, it was where you went." It was different than be- ing in Eugene, Oregon – a meaner, more desperate sit- uation, where everyone was just looking out for them- selves. "People in Eugene were all people I knew. They weren't going to cut it (her- oin) with something that would hurt us," said Cook. "It is a different ballgame when you are on the street in San Fransisco. They don't know you and they don't care." Even though Cook knew this was a risk, it didn't keep him from continuing to use heroin. "I don't know what it was cut with, but it caused tox- ic shock. They didn't think I was going to make it," said Cook. Cook was in a hotel room when he did his nearly final act. "Most people, when they overdose, it is asphyxiation. You can't breathe, they just kind of fall over. Even peo- ple who died in front of me. " said Cook. "When I did that heroin, I fell forward, hit the door and hit the door handle and fell into the hallway. I nearly fell into a guy who called 911. I remember hearing him yell- ing," said Cook. He was unconscious for several days. "They put me on enough machines to keep my body alive." NEXT WEEK: RECOVERY AND ESCAPE FROM HELL Next week Cook talks about his hellish experi- ence and recovery in body, mind and spirit, a recovery that was very much like an escape. It was an escape he believes, was an escape lit- erally from hell. The 17th Annual Timeless Classics Cabin Fever Cruise- In and Auction is Saturday at the 4-H Building in Horna- dy Park. This year's event is in memory of Jack Pipes, a longtime member and offi- cer, who died last year after their summer event. Registration begins at 11 a.m. and runs through 1 p.m., with the auction start- ing at 1:15 p.m. One of the items being auctioned is a 1935 Tokheim gas pump modified to fit under an eight-foot ceiling and paint- ed to match the color of Pipes' 1955 Ford. Proceeds from the sale of the pump will go to the Jack Pipes Me- morial Scholarship. Entrants should bring a small picture of their car, which will be judged. The first 50 entrants will receive dash plaques. The top 10 will receive a trophy. Entry fee is a new or used item to be sold in the auc- tion. Soup and hotdogs will be available. Timeless Classic benefit auction A benefit chili supper and silent auction have been scheduled to benefit Makay- la Travis and her family. The supper and auction are set for 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 3 at the Winslow Fire House at 100 Walnut St. The supper is $5 for adults and $ 3 for children 10 and under. Free will donations will be accepted. Makayla is 13 years old and has a rare ERF Muta- tion, which causes her to not grow. She also has Scoliosis, Bone Dysplasia and other bone issues. She is sched- uled for surgery on Febru- ary 13. The proceeds of the supper and auction will go to help her family with the cost of travel, meals and oth- er needs so her parents can stay with her during this process. To donate, contact Dana Travis at 812-677-7765. Travis benefit supper is Feb. 3 Charles Lemond (R) for Council District 2; Max Elliott (R) Council Dist. 3; Travis Troutman (R) Council Dist. 4; Matthew Todd Fulk (D) Democrat Precinct Commit- teeman Madison Twp.; John Davidson (R) Clay Township Trustee; Angela S. O'Neal (D) Lockhart Twp. Trustee; Becky J. Steinhart (R) Marion Twp. Trustee; Sandra Barrett (D) Mon- roe Twp. Trustee; Joe Melhiser (R) Patoka Twp. Trustee; Charles M Meyer (D), Belva B. Luker (D), Wil- liam Caldemeyer (D) Lock- hart Advisory Board; Elaine Barrett (D), Rita Williams (D) and Ivan V. Mason, Jr. (D) Monroe Twp Advisory Board.; Tracy M. Evans (R) and Gregory Gray (D) Marion Advisory Board.; By Andy Heuring Petersburg Mayor R. C. Klipsch told city councilmen during the Monday night meeting that engineers from Universal Design would be in Petersburg on Tuesday to inspect two run-down buildings on Main St. He al- so told councilmen he had been promised a contrac- tor would start this week on replacing Petersburg light poles on Main St. Klipsch said Petersburg had secured the two build- ings at 606 and 608 Main St. Both buildings are vacant and in disrepair, and the roof has partially collapsed in one of the buildings. "We have tried to se- cure those properties and make them as safe as we can" said Klipsch. "I hope to address that before the 2021 Streetscape Project. You don't want to be tear- ing up the Streetscape Proj- ect for those buildings," said Klipsch. He said he was meeting on Tuesday with engineers, who would inspect the build- ings and tell them their op- tions. Klipsch said they have been told there is up to $500,000 grant money to demolish the buildings or $500,000 available to rehab the buildings. "Once we address that (having them inspected) we can determine what to do with them," said Klipsch. He said the engineers from Universal Design were involved in a similar project in Rockport. In that situation they assessed three build- ings. He said they decided to demolish two of the build- ings and rehab the third. "I'm not a fan of those 'pocket park' things, like they have in Princeton," said City Councilman Gary Leavitt, talking about spaces in the middle of city blocks. "I'm not either. I would love to save these buildings if it is at all possible," said Klipsch. On another hot-button topic, Klipsch said he had been in contact with Duke numerous times and been assured work on the new street lights would start this week. "Today has come and gone and we haven't seen anyone working on it yet," said Klipsch. Clerk-treasurer Tammy Selby told councilmen the contractor hired by Duke wanted to put it off until next week, but they were told by Duke to start this week. "There is still a lot of noise on the street about the lights," said Leavitt. In other business, Leavitt said he was asked about what happened to the two benches on Main St. Klipsch said they were removed to be painted and they would be returned. Bertis Jenkins told Klipsch there was a street light out at 222 W. Pike Ave. Klipsch said they would no- tify the people to take care of it. The next Petersburg Council meeting is sched- uled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, February 5. City to get report on two Main Street buildings Engineers from Universal Design of Ferdinand, Petersburg councilman Gary Leavitt and city employ- ee Alan Tegmeyer look over the front of the buildings at 606 and 608 Main St. Petersburg recently ob- tained control of these buildings. They contracted Universal to inspect them and determine if the build- ings should be torn down or rehabilitated. They wanted to get whichever project done before or in con- junction with their Streetscape Project to redo Main St., Petersburg which is scheduled to begin in 2021.