Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah leads the nation in non-medical use of prescription drugs, with nearly 7 percent of the population using drugs without a doctor's order.
In 2007, KSL told the story of Matt Basset, a drug addict who had hit rock bottom. Now, Matt is giving hope to others that beating addiction is not only possible, it saved his life.
"I was using on a daily basis just to get by, not even to get high anymore. It was just so I would not get sick and make it to work. I was on the road to death for sure," Matt said in May 2007. Matt was fresh off a two-month rehab stint in southern Utah.
Addiction had robbed him of 10 years of his life, and a few months after our interview Matt had another short relapse.
Matt has been clean since July 2007. He is up nearly 60 pounds from the 115 pounds he weighed at the height of his addiction.
He's found a new life without drugs and alcohol and it all started with a six-month stay at the Project Recovery sober living house in Salt Lake City.
"It got me in the community and helped me to start living a recovery lifestyle," Matt says. "Because a recovery lifestyle is about 180 degrees different than what I was living before."
There are two Project Recovery sober homes -- one for up to 15 men and another next door for up to 12 women. It's a voluntary, minimum 90-day program that has helped dozens of people like Matt re-learn how to function in society without drugs or alcohol.
"Those of us who have been working in this field for all those years, I believe, this is the most treatable untreated disease in our nation," says Lynda Steele, founder of Project Recovery and a licensed clinical social worker.
Steele says Matt's story is fairly common. "He finally got sick and tired of being sick and tired. He had tried everything his will or ego could do, but he was really willing to do some pretty basic and simple things," she says.
Things like getting a job, being accountable and re-entering the real world -- but this time with a consistent support group. Now, Matt works for Project Recovery as a case manager. He is committed to helping others battling addiction.
Evan Chapman went through the sober house and says Matt's influence and perspective helped him turn his life around.
"He has an incredible knack at holding people accountable and supporting you, in helping you do the things you can do to help yourself," Evan says.
Looking back, Matt's mother realizes just how close she was to losing a son. "I know that if he wouldn't have Project Recovery and a sober living house, he wouldn't have made it," says Marcia Phillips.
"That's what it took for me -- somebody that's been where I've been, walked through my shoes, showing me that it is possible to live a day clean and sober," Matt says.
Matt still says he occasionally has cravings, but he also feels like he's been given a second chance. A chance that he says is available to anyone who's battling addiction and needs and wants help.
E-mail: shaws@ksl.com
