A tough battle. Intervention‘s Tuesday, December 20, episode centers on a drug addict’s inability to resist abusing his treatment, as seen in Us Weekly‘s exclusive sneak peek.
The A&E docuseries’ preview clip features Sturgill, who tells the camera, “My job now is an addict. … I’m addicted to alcohol, Xanax and sleeping pills, crack cocaine, I was using heroin — I was a junkie.”
His lifestyle changed when he discovered a methadone clinic two years ago. Sturgill is supposed to get clean with the help of methadone, a prescription drug that aids former opioid addicts going through withdrawal. However, he admits that he has found a way to beat the system, as he takes so much of the medication that he “tapered up to where I could get high.”
Sturgill’s mom is concerned for her son, admitting, “If Sturgill didn’t have that methadone, he’s going to go back to heroin.”
His father believes that Sturgill is essentially “married to the methadone clinic,” given his excessive daily usage. In addition to methadone, Sturgill takes four to five over-the-counter sleeping pills at one time.
“Even that wasn’t enough,” his mom laments. “He started snorting Xanaxes, and still that’s not enough.”
Sturgill also continues to battle alcoholism. He consumes 2 pints of liquor every day, a risky path given his methadone intake.
He explains about his routine: “If you get too far down, smoke a little bit of rock cocaine and it brings you back up, makes you feel good again. And later on I take some sleeping pills, and [they] bring you back down.”
Watch the difficult clip above. Intervention airs on A&E Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
