Finding Freedom After Decades of Addiction: Aubrey Douglas Smith’s Journey
Hello, my name is Aubrey Douglas Smith. I’m 58 years old and from Taylorville, IL. I have three children and nine grandchildren, with one child already in heaven. At the age of nine, I was baptized, but I stopped going to church the following year and turned to drugs. At 15, I overdosed on cocaine, which caused me to quit using hard drugs. Alcohol then became my drug of choice, but I was able to control it to just weekends.
At 17, someone spiked my drink with two hits of LSD. When I came to, I faced 15 counts of aggravated battery, which landed me in county jail. Fast forward several years, I became very angry with a friend who threw me out during an electrical storm. To cope with my anger, I convinced myself that one hit of meth would make me feel better—and it did. Meth not only took away my anger but also curbed my drinking and helped me stop smoking tobacco. By 46, I thought I was doing great, believing meth was the answer I had been looking for.
However, it didn’t take long before I was a daily user. By the time I was 54, I began making poor choices, especially since my dealer started lacing meth with fentanyl. In July 2023, I was set up by authorities, arrested, and placed in county jail. Within two weeks, the no-cash bond law took effect, so I was released on pre-trial. Then, on February 25, 2024, I was unknowingly lured into a drug scene during a sting operation, violating my pre-trial release, and I was arrested again.
It was my lawyer who suggested I go to Adult & Teen Challenge, and I was furloughed here in April 2024. Since then, I’ve strengthened my walk with God. I realize now that I am still alive because God has a plan for my life. I’m not sure what the future holds, but I am putting my trust in the Lord to guide me.
I’d like to leave you with my life verse, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”