‘This has got to stop'

One man's decision to leave meth behind

December 27, 2005

MARY AMES\Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - In the two or three months he'd been using methamphetamine, Josh Fryfogle hadn't spoken to his mom. He'd had little sleep during that time, certainly no deep sleep. He'd already gone through a physical crash, so his body was clean when he went to visit his mom.

&#8220I walked into my mom's house, and she looked into my eyes and didn't know who I was,” Fryfogle said. &#8220It was like that old saying that even your own mother wouldn't know you. She was poised as if she was going to fight me off. That's when I thought, ‘This has got to stop.'”

That incident took place in Mississippi more than 10 years ago, and Fryfogle has been clean and productive ever since. To stay clean, he moved to another town, away from his meth buddies. He reconnected with his music, which was normally an obsession, but had become a rarity in his life when he was on meth. He formed a band.

&#8220Things were going well,” he said. &#8220But after a time, my guitar player and drummer got into meth. I was tempted, but the bad experiences far outweighed the temptation. I moved again.”

Fryfogle found the same thing each time he moved, even when he moved to other states. After a while, meth laid claim to those around him. He eventually moved to Alaska, thinking meth would be far behind him. He's married, with children, a solid career and doesn't much mention his past. But he is willing to speak out now.

&#8220I was in college back when meth was new,” he said. &#8220I'd done just about every drug except heroin. I was looking for pot and couldn't find any and some guy offered me some cheap meth. It was still so new, I'd heard of it but hadn't seen any. It was popular at raves.”

What Fryfogle experienced, he said, was unbelievable. The 20 minute high he was familiar with from cocaine use, was a 14-hour high on meth.

He'd never felt that good, that confident, he said, he thought that was what it must feel like to be Superman.

But it made his teeth bad, they looked weak, even to him.

&#8220It boils down to poison,” he said. &#8220And it robs some people of their soul. When my guitar player started using, he had three kids who went without the necessities because he was too preoccupied to think about what other people needed.

&#8220As long as people understand that I haven't used anything for a long time, it's OK,” Fryfogle said. &#8220I mean, it should do some good, right? A lot of people, once they get hooked, they feel helpless.”