RIVERSIDE, Calif., Feb. 20, 2008
The Cost Of Addiction: R.J's Story
One Teenage Boy Was Born Addicted To Heroin; Now He's Out To Help Addicts With A Law
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Play CBS Video Video Calif. Considers R.J.'s Law Born addicted to heroin, 16-year-old R.J. has conquered many of his disabilities. Now, as Sandra Hughes reports, he is introducing a law to make sure what happened to him doesn't happen again.
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R.J. Feild (CBS)
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Photo Essay Assignment America Steve Hartman On Assignment. More Photos
It's a typical teenager's morning routine.
But R. J. Feild, a sophomore in Riverside County, is anything but a typical teenager, CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes reports.
Everything about school is a struggle for R.J. He can barely read because his vision is so terrible. Only one hand works well. And walking is a major ordeal.
When he make new friends, do they ask him: "were you born like this?"
"Yea, which I'm fine with it. It's part of life. Like all my other struggles," he said.
What does he tell them?
"I tell them that my mom did drugs and she made me have to be born this way," R.J. said.
He was born addicted to heroin, with meth, alcohol and cocaine also in his system. Months premature, he weighed only two pounds. His birth mother, who was on public assistance, abandoned him in the hospital. No one expected him to survive.
But then again, surprising folks is what R.J. does best.
Now 16 years old, he just won an essay contest sponsored by California legislator John Benoit, called, "There ought to be a law."
Part of his essay reads, "For my entire life I will need assistance...."
What R.J. is proposing:
It's not just about the human cost, says R.J., but the cost to taxpayers as well. The school district provides a full-time aide and special PE teacher. His medical bills are well into the millions.
At a Republican ladies luncheon, R.J. campaigned to turn his idea into a real law.
"What it's for is to stop other kids turning out like I did," R.J. said. One lady at the luncheon replied: "That's a brilliant idea, R.J."
"Why should there be a law, R.J?" Hughes asked.
"So that we can clean up the people and get babies so they don't turn out like I did, they don't have to go through what I went through, or what I'm going through," he said.
R.J.'s PE teacher is the same teacher who taught him how to walk - way back in kindergarten.
He's had nothing but encouragement from the foster parents who raised him.
"We've never told him there's something you can't do. We'd say you can do it. Just figure out a way," said Mary Beth Field.
Like earning a Varsity letter - in football - for assisting coach Peter McGowan.
"He has a great attitude," McGowan said. "He's a survivor, he's a warrior."
R.J. heads to Sacramento this week to introduce his bill to the California legislature. He knows that turning his idea into R.J.'s Law will be an uphill battle, but R.J.'s not even worried.
He's already conquered mountains.
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- I am for this law..But I think everyone on welfare and SSI/SSD need to be drug tested. I used drugs for many years. What got me off the stuff was getting arrested. Was the best thing that ever happened to me. I got 6yrs clean from drugs, by the way no kids. I was smart in that area. I haven''t had a seizure in 6yrs. I got a job and I am slowly getting off social security and disability. I just can''t live off what I make a month on this income. So I am for this law. But I think all people need to be drug tested. It isnt just people on welfare. Its peeps on ssi/ssd too.
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- For what it''''s worth.. I am subject to random drug testing to earn my pay so I can pay taxes. My taxes support Family Services, so why shouldn''''t people getting the assistance be subject to drug screening too?
Posted by Dooder712 at 07:13 PM : Feb 21, 2008
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because your nieghborhood liberal WOULD NOT ALLOW THAT. - Reply to this comment
- "What R.J. is proposing: All welfare recipients would be randomly tested for drugs."
It''s sad that this child has been brainwashed into believing that ALL people on public assistance are drug users. This is a classic exampling of stereotyping at it''s finest. - Reply to this comment
- Where do you think most violent criminals come from? Stable, loving families with a mother & father who make the kids the number one priority?
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- Single women, assuming they have half a brain cell, need to use birth control AND demand that the Super Stud they''re sleeping with use a condom. If the man of your dreams doesn''t want to use a condom then the party is over. I''m sure you''ll be able to resist his charms.
It''s one thing for a married couple with kids to lose their jobs & end up relying on public assistance for a temporary period. No one has a problem with that.
It''s another thing for single women to have child after child & expect the government to pick up the tab. Single women have to take responsibility for birth control because they''re the ones carrying the baby for 9 months & will be doing most of the caregiving. Or their mother/grandmother will. Single men, especially black men, have an interesting habit of disappearing in such situations. It''s going to change your life in a HUGE way. Unless you get an abortion. - Reply to this comment
- I am for the mums to be to be tested for illgal drugs that may be in their system to handicap a child. It is not right. I DO FEEL THAT THERE ARE PERSONS THAT MUST BE FIXED TO THEY CAN''T BREED. I had to fight to have gotten my tubes tied at 28. I was in a blind centre but left with a friend 24+ years ago. I am on meds. I think it is something that need to be addressed. The non handicapped don''t want to think about what drugs will do the unborn. I have gone thru the change of life at 37. I am 53.
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- PS,. I forgot to mention the most important part of RJs story and thats the babies who would be saved! Its a win win situation.
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- I agree with RJs Law and the others on here. Why shouldn''t ANY person not just woman, but men too who are receiving Public assistance be tested! They are receiving,cash, foodstamps and most importantly better healthcare then my own father who worked all his life and is now a retired Senior! Why shouldn''t they have to do something for our Working tax dollars! I live in Philadelphia, worst crime in the nation, mostly due to drugs not that our Mayor will admit it! So Im all for it! If these people are forced to get help then their off the drugs, the crime stops and then the free Methodone programs stop and we save more tax paying dollars! It would be a trickel affect. I Believe drugs are the root of all Evil and the reason we have soo much crime and craziness in the world today! Please let us know how we can help! Im sure the entire working nation would join forces with RJ! Im ready to do what I can! RJ your amazing, Keep Striving, Im praying and rooting for ya!
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- This is a powerful story and one brave man''s struggles and accomplishments should inspire all of us to honestly look at all of the issues involved with welfare and lives destroyed from drug abuse. Without attacking, we should be asking what can be done. Innocent victims need to be protected and in circumstances in which individuals are not acting responsibly but are enjoying the rights (to food, shelter, etc...)then the govt. needs to take more control. If individuals are receiving assistance then their freedoms are subject to a wiser authority. Pregnant women should be given assistance but in a more responsible way whether it is required living in facilities that ensure maternity care or frequent visits from social workers to insure that they are taking proper care of themselves and their unborn babies.
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- For what it''s worth.. I am subject to random drug testing to earn my pay so I can pay taxes. My taxes support Family Services, so why shouldn''t people getting the assistance be subject to drug screening too?
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- and the LIBERALS wants to legalize drugs..WELL I SAY TAX THE HELL OUT OF THEM AND LET THEM PAY FOR THIS
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- I would like to know what WE can do to help RJ in his fight to get this bill passed! From what I am reading here, I am not the only one that agrees with his take on the "system"...I think most of america would agree SOMETHING needs to change. Maybe this could be the start.....
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- Millions for one person''s medical care, that''s a crime!
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- Give me a break! descriminate? now i have heard it all... People make a choice to take that first hit or snort or whatever they do with drugs, there is enough education around for idiots to know they most likely will get hooked. I think we need much tougher laws and welfare reform. I am personally sick of busting my butt to support drug addicts and lazy people.
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- There could be so many things fixed in this country with this law. People say welfare is for the kids, if the parents are using the kids foodstamps and checks to buy drugs how is it for the kids?
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- mswolfestock: I pray that you NEVER have a situation where you need assistance. My husband and I were making over $90,000 annually when he was injured and eventually unable to work. Had it not been for family services, who provided food assistance and sports scholarships for our kids, we''d have been homeless in less than 2 months, because a family of 4 doesn''t survive on $25,000 a year. We had to use assistance until my promotion and raise came through, and his disability pay kicked in. so, contrary to your bigotted belief, MOST FAMILY SERVICES RECIPIENTS ARE NOT "some kind of low animal form." But, if you continue to believe that you are above everyone else, you will be wishing that you were a better person...Karma, man!
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- and the conclusion...I know plenty of single parents (male and female both) who are raising their children just fine, and don''t see the "only safety net" as being welfare. By the way, it''s not welfare anymore, it is Family Services. birth control doesn''t always work, but I know a sure fix for these young people (and older ones, too)...get fixed! If you want to play, don''t gripe to me when you have 1 or more children and are receiving assistance because your loser of a partner cannot take care of their responsiblities. Grab your self by the bootstraps, pull yourself up and move on! In this day and age, it doesn''t make sense not to take advantage of several programs for education, work training, etc. So, if you want assistance, be prepared to prove you don''t need rehab!
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- RJ''s Law is a great idea, but it doesn''t go far enough. If a woman on welfare tests positive for drugs and refuses rehab, then she should have her tubes tied so she cannot bring any children into the world, drug-addicted or otherwise. I don''t think that women on welfare should be allowed to breed at all - they''re using my tax dollars and that''s always been wrong. They keep on breeding kids they don''t really want so they can get more welfare. I''m sick and tired of paying my taxes to these losers. And yes, textynn, welfare recipients ARE "some kind of low animal form." If they don''t want to be treated like animals they can get a life, go to rehab (on the tax-payers money), and then get a job.
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- First, never did the article say that all children with disabilities were born to drug addicted parents, just that there is a rising number of children with disabilities who are born to drug addicts. So, if your 28 year old developmentally disabled son is upset, you need to explain that to him, and re read the article.
2nd, I''ve used Family services for food assistance after my husband was disabled and before Soc. Security was approved. To say that drug testing welfare recipients is discrimination is incorrect. I''d have happily submitted to a test, because if I''m using taxpayers money, they deserve for me to be clean.
Yes, every woman should be drug tested when pregnant. I was. - Reply to this comment
- I hope all the best for RJ. What a brave young man to make a stand. I agree with him 100% and I hope his law will be passed.
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