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Teen idol Leif Garrett's
world came crashing down when he drove a car over the side of an
80-foot hill in a drug-fueled stupor and paralyzed his passenger
for life.
The scandal and ensuing $7.1 million
judgment against him sent the I Was Made for Dancing heartthrob
spiraling down into the depths of heroin
addiction.
"I was a junkie," admits
Garrett, 40. "Heroin became
my lover, friend and life."
But in 1999, the fallen superstar
tried a revolutionary, one-step detox program at the Waismann Institute
in Beverly Hills, where a bowel and stomach flush killed his desire
for drugs while he slept.
"That was the end of the feeling
I had for drugs," declares a clean and sober Garrett, who's
now a member of the rock band F8.
Partridge Family start Danny Bonaduce,
41, has had a much tougher time kicking his bad habits and admits
he's hardly a rehab poster child after several visits to detox centers
ended with mixed results.
In February of this year, Bonaduce,
a co-host of the syndicated TV talk show The Other Half, confessed
that he fell off the wagon after being sober for six months.
But he pledges to
stay on the straight and narrow now, admitting, "I'm ashamed
of myself."
One success story
is Mackenzie Phillips, 41, who's endured nine stints of rehab
after falling victim to drugs at age 12. But now the One Day
at a TIme star has become an inspiration to other ex-addicts
by delivering motivational speeches at anti-booze and drug seminars
where her message is "Life is good."
Another happy ending belongs to 35-year-old
Diff'rent Stokes actor Todd Bridges, who hit rock bottom, went to
rehab and became a hero last year when he reduced a wheelchair-bound
woman who had rolled into a lake. |
And Stand By Me star
Corey Feldman's lust for heroin and cocaine landed him in jail before
he went to rehab. The 31-year-old actor is now marking 10 years
of sobriety, still working sporadically in Hollywood and fronting
a rock band called Truth Movement.
"Being a child star is not easy
and they often cope with the pressure by using drugs," says
psychologist Dr. Lois Mueller. "The good news is that kids
generally respond better to drug treatment than adults, who have
a of baggage and are more rigid."
Feldman's Lost Boys co-star, Corey
Haim has had several brushes with death because of drugs, and he's
even tried to sell his body parts.
As a kid, Haim pocketed $300,000 a
flick, but discovered cocaine in his mid-teens, and has seen his
career nosedive ever since.
Last December, he tried to hawk a
molar tooth on eBay The tooth hit a high of $10 before the sale
was pulled because the Internet site does not allow the sale of
body parts.
The 30-year-old actor's bizarre auction
came just three months after he ended up in a coma in an L.A. hospital
after overdosing on drugs.
In 1999, L.A. pawnbroker, Julien Blue,
revealed how Haim hocked a ring at his shop. Blue says he gave Haim
$65 for the ring, then three more bucks when he returned to the
shop and begged for money to buy a pizza.
"It was a sad, pathetic sight,"
Blue commented. "He's gone from being a rich and famous star
to pawning his possessions just to get something to eat. It broke
my heart to see him this way."
For more information, please call (310) 205-0808 or (888) 987-HOPE or send us a confidential email. |