My daughter Cassie's been a drug addict
I think since she's about 15 years old.
My heart is broken.
I know drugs are a horrible thing.
Back in the '70s, early '80s,
I admit that I used to do a lot of cocaine.
Last year Cassie needed a place to stay
so I let her move in with me.
It was a total disaster.
I came home from work several times
and there'd be guys in my spare bedroom,
they'd all be shooting up, smoking crack.
She would meet up with these guys
and she would call 'em dates.
She was selling herself so she could supply her habit.
Made me feel terrible.
Twice I had to put her in the shower,
she passed out, I think she passed out
because she mixed the two drugs,
crack cocaine and heroine, together.
And I think that's called speedballing.
Cassie lived with me, it was just too much.
Them drugs laying on the table all the time.
I used to use years ago, and it did trigger me.
I just slipped in my sobriety.
I used cocaine with her twice when she lived with me.
I made a horrible mistake.
I had enough when I saw my daughter
take a spoon, heat up heroine,
and then put it in a needle and inject herself.
I was at the end of my rope, I was done.
Cheryl thinks I'm the bad guy
for allowing Cassie to live with me.
She thinks I'm a bad guy 'cause I did drugs with her.
I'm the good guy, I believe I kept her alive.
Had she not lived with me she would have died on the street.
(dramatic music)
Well Dave, I'm glad you're here.
And you're here because you are
fighting for her sobriety, right?
Yes.
Are you concerned that she's gone so far
that her life is in jeopardy?
Very much so.
I'm worried that the next call will be to the morgue.
And if she had a problem living with my wife,
my ex-wife, and she had nowhere to go.
So she'd be on the street.
And being on the street, where can you go,
what can you do?
You'd have to sell your body to get drugs.
It'd be actually, I know what it'd be,
it'd be me going down to the morgue.
She'd be OD'ing.
I used to always say, let her be on the streets
because it'll force her into treatment.
Because you were letting her party in the house,
you were letting drink in the house.
Not saying I did all...
But I didn't let her drink,
I didn't let her do drugs with me,
I wasn't allowing it.
And I think by you allowing her to stay there.
I think the problem is, is in my opinion,
there's ultimately no one to blame
for my sister's addiction besides my sister.
However, my mom and my dad
both enable her in different ways.
You give her that sense of security
where she can continue this lifestyle
and she knows if she needs somewhere to stay,
if she needs food, if she needs something,
if she needs, it might not always be monetary-wise,
but if she needs something you will be there.
So having that sense of security, why would she wanna,
it's maybe harder for her to take that initiative.
And then for you, I mean, the things that
you've done with her, and what was said on the TV,
or what you just said now on camera.
Is just, you enable her in those ways,
where you're her dad, and it's sad, and it sucks.
It's like...
I know it's sad.
Who does do drugs with their daughter?
You wouldn't have a sister right now
if it wasn't for me, she would not be around.
But you didn't have to do drugs.
How is it that you've saved her?
Because she was on the street, sitting on the curbs.
She didn't live with me all the time.
She came only sometime.
And then for a while there she did stay with me.
But she'd be on the street going to these trap houses.
They shoot up in these trap houses,
she could OD in one.
At least how I had her in my house,
a roof over her head, I did monitor her,
but I work two jobs.
So at lunchtime I'd come home sometimes,
I'd say there was nobody in the house.
I'd come home at lunchtime,
here she'd have people in the house partying.
I'd kick her out, everyday of the week I'd kick her out.
How did it come that you were actually
smoking crack with her?
She told me how she's talking--
I did it twice, I did.
And then you go sh, here's the pipe,
while she's talking to me.
Everybody makes mistakes.
I mean...
I made a mistake.
You just did this twice?
Right.
Twice is twice too many.
Right.
But you did it twice?
(audience clapping)
Right.
She would leave for a couple days
or a day or two, come home, throw four, five,
$600 in front of me and say, here dad.
Go put this up for me.
Then she'd go in the back spare bedroom
and bring people over and shoot up.
But you knew all this.
I called the cops on her twice.
They'd take her to rehab.
She'd last two three days, she'd walk out.
We sent her, how many, Arizona for rehab, she walks out.
Because Cassie, you're saying that
you're keeping her alive, and keeping her off the streets.
She is on the streets and she is selling her body.
Correct?
Right, but she had someplace to go
instead of noplace to go.
