Jeremy Johnson said that people battling addiction need to know
that it is possible to have fun in recovery
DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
Taffet@DallasVoice.com
Jeremy Johnson was leading a very successful life as a registered nurse with an MBA in Health Services Management.
“I had a great job, house cars, partner, traveled where I wanted,” he said. “On the outside it looked great.”
But on the inside, his life with an abusive and controlling man when they drank led to drugs and eventually prison.
“I come from a long line of alcoholics and addicts,” he said. “Moving to Dallas, I started drinking with friends to feel comfortable.”
Johnson described himself as a binge drinker. When he went out with friends, he drank to get drunk.
“It never affected me as far as school or career,” he said. “It always caused a strain on my relationships.”
He said he had some toxic relationships but his life changed when crystal meth entered his life. He said his partner at the time brought it into his home and pressured him to use it.
“Being predisposed to alcoholism and addiction, I took it one time, and I was off to the races,” he said. “I went from a good job, house, car at age 32. By the age of 38, I was in the Department of Criminal Justice.”
Between then, he was arrested for possession, but pretty much managed to stay out of trouble. “Then in 2017, I was on meth and I fell asleep while driving,” he said.
There was a drunk driving accident ahead so traffic had come to a standstill. Johnson said he was the cause of a second accident when he fell asleep. Two people were killed, and he was charged with intoxication manslaughter.
Before he was even charged, he said, he knew he’d be dead soon if he didn’t stop. “But I was filled with so much guilt, I couldn’t stop,” he said.
He was found guilty in the two deaths and was sentenced to 12 years. He said he thinks about those two lives every day.
“In 2022, in prison, I had my spiritual awakening,” Johnson explained. He saw people get released on parole but quickly come right back to prison, mostly for parole violations. Or drug violations. Or because they got into some kind of trouble with no support or means to get a job after release.
It was at that point in his life, several years into his sentence, that Johnson found a higher power and began to understand that “If my higher power can forgive me, I can forgive myself.”
And instead of anger or blame or any other negative emotions he’d been feeling, he said, “I decided to be happy in a place of chaos.”
Johnson said he understands that it sounds odd to decide to be happy in prison, but that was what he needed to do in order to make it through the rest of his sentence and to live his life.
“I saw a need when I was there — to make a change and help others,” he said. “So I started a 12-step group. I started mentoring and sponsoring men in prison and seeing men change. It was a special and amazing experience.”
He said he also found his Catholic faith while in prison and converted to Catholicism when he got out.
Johnson served seven years. About a year-and-a-half ago, he was released on a five-year parole.
He said a number of things led to his drug addiction. He said he was bullied as a kid, and, even though his family supported him, he was from a small town that didn’t support him. So he moved to Dallas. Here, he was able to overcome what he called the shame of being gay.
In prison, when he decided to turn his life around, he got into a faith-based program and worked directly with the chaplain. He quickly became a peer educator, advocating for LGBTQ+ people and their health in prison.
“A lot of it is about health,” he said. “I was an R.N. I had to give up my license when I went to prison.”
But he didn’t give up what he learned as a nurse.
“No one’s going to rehabilitate you for you,” he said. “You can only rehabilitate yourself. I chose to be happy in that place of misery. People would look at me and ask, ‘Why are you so happy?’
“You can get better. You can stop using drugs even in prison,” even though, he acknowledged, that is not the norm.
Now that he’s out of prison, he devotes quite a bit of his time to helping people with alcoholism or addiction get off drugs and alcohol through 12-step programs. And while he knows 12-step programs aren’t for everyone, he believes they do work for many people.
And the 12-step program he’s in has helped him.
Johnson said his group’s been around for four years and serves about 30 people. Meetings are held three times a week in the evening and are an hour long.
Johnson gets his message out in different ways. He said he carries his message into hospitals and institutions. And to reach others he’s running in the Miss Crystal Clear Dallas pageant — his first time doing drag — during the Crystal Clear Dallas conference happening next month.
“This conference is about connection,” he said, explaining that, often, addicts think recovery means the fun is over. “But,” he stressed, “you can have fun in recovery.”
The pageant will be held on Sept. 19 during the Crystal Clear Dallas conference, happening Sept. 18-20 at the downtown Aloft Hotel. For more information, visit CrystalClearRecovery.org.