Reformed addict Jack Nagle says prescription drugs are ‘just as bad as heroin’

ADDICTS often have as much of a problem with over-the-counter drugs as they do illicit ones, jack Nagle says — and he would know.

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ADDICTS often have as much of a problem with prescription drugs as they do illicit ones, a rehab worker says.

And Jack Nagle would know.

He almost died from a prescription drug overdose alone in an alleyway.

His so-called “mates” found him in their home, passed out and spitting up whole pills that his body had no chance of absorbing.

Instead of calling for help, they dumped him in a nearby alley and left him for dead.

Lucky for Jack a good Samaritan found him and called an ambulance.

“You fall into the trap that you don’t have a problem with prescription drugs, but what you’re doing is just as bad as heroin,” the 26-year-old said.

Reformed drug addict Jack Nagle. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

That night he had taken Xanax, OxyContin and anti psychotics — all bought over the counter and sold back on the street.

“We would go to the doctor to get scripts, we’d look up symptoms and spin a story,” he said.

“We’d have a list of doctors and if one didn’t work, we’d go to the next one.”

Six years clean after his addiction to prescription drugs, booze and eventually ice, Jack became the centre manager at drug rehab facility DayHab.

He now runs his own company, Real Drug Talk, speaking to school and sporting groups.

And through his work, he’s met many addicts who were first prescribed drugs for back pain or anxiety.

“Then all of a sudden you can’t live life without a little pill every day,” he said.

“It’s a massive problem.”

While he believed a crackdown on prescription medications would move addicts to illicit drugs, he still believed it was a good thing.

“People will get high another way,” he said.

“But it could prevent those who haven’t started (prescription drugs) from becoming addicted.”

@ashargoon