Gino G. is 24 years old. “I got my first taste of drugs on my first birthday, when my father blew marijuana smoke in my face. I had a seizure and almost died. 
By age 8, I was stealing my father’s weed and smoking it. It made me feel weird… for some reason I liked that.”
“By 6th grade I noticed problems. I couldn’t pay attention. In the 7th grade, I joined a gang, skipped school and got into more trouble. School was difficult. I dropped out in the 8th grade and went to live with my grandmother.”
“I started selling marijuana on a street corner. A friend introduced me to cocaine. I snorted
coke, drank heavily and smoked weed. I got into trouble with guns. My mother sent me to Florida. I came back when my 5 year-old brother died of cardiac arrest. He was born premature and had birth defects. My mother put guilt on me for not caring for him.”
“My father went to jail for selling drugs when I was 15.” These traumas led Gino to “stop caring.” By 18, Gino was selling drugs out of his mother’s house. “I made a lot of money. I met a girl and got her pregnant.. she 
miscarried. My father got out of jail and started to use the drugs I was selling. I was making $4,000.00 every two days. I felt unstoppable.”
“My friend died of cancer and my best friend went to jail for murder. I was in a stress mode… my son’s mother was stealing drugs from me and my father wasn’t caring about anything…. I threw everyone out of the house.”?
“Soon, I started to smoke and sniff heroin. I robbed someone for $80,000 and went to Puerto Rico. I ran out of money and came back – I started to sell drugs again. When my best friends died and got killed, I started to shoot heroin 
instead of sniffing. I felt no remorse, no pain, and I liked it… that scared me… it took me away from everything, everything, everything.”
“I sold more drugs, shot more heroin, and robbed customers. I was arrested for armed robbery, did 8 months and got out… I started to
drink every day, but I didn’t use heroin. When my old friends came around, I started to shoot heroin again. I went back to jail for possession with intent to distribute.”
“After 2.5 years, I met a beautiful girl. I am trying to be a good father to my son who I love dearly. I got out of the gang… there is no purpose in gang banging.” I am going to school to get my barber’s license… the other lifestyle is gone. Jail made me realize a lot of things; jail helped me out and changed me.”