For nearly four decades, Danny Trejo has made a name for himself as an actor. But the road he travelled to get to where he is today was full of challenges. At only 8-years-old, Trejo began to smoke marijuana. By age 12, he was drinking alcohol. Then, his drug use escalated at 14-years-old when he started to use heroine and became a drug dealer himself.
At that point, Trejo’s life became consumed by alcohol and drugs. This addiction would see him in and out of jail from his late teens and into his early 20s. The simple thought of having a life outside of this addiction must have felt impossible. Luckily, the right people came into Trejo’s life to show him that he didn’t have to face his struggles alone.
While in San Quentin State Prison in California, he gave Alcoholics Anonymous a shot. He was in an out of the program for years until, finally, a former inmate convinced him to give it one more chance.
“That guy saved my life,” Trejo recalled. “He said, ‘Why don’t you join us? Before you do anything, just join us. Give it a try. What do you have to lose?’ It was kind of like an awakening. So when I got out of the joint, I went back to meetings.”
Now, just a day ago, Trejo was happy to share that he’s been sober for 55 years! According to the 79-year-old actor, a huge reason why he’s been able to turn his life around all comes back to the people he chooses to surround himself with.
“I honestly believe this sobriety and being clean depends on your support system,” he said. “You’ve got this system of people around you that want you to stay clean and sober. If I’m driving down the street and I’m with somebody clean and sober and I say, ‘God, man, I sure could go for a joint right now or a beer,’ this guy will say, ‘Hey, wait a minute. … Let’s go to a meeting.’ … I surround myself with people that are clean and sober.”
Before becoming an actor, Trejo was a drug counselor. Although that’s no longer his job, he still looks for ways to use his own experiences to inspire others who are struggling with similar problems.
“I’m 55 years clean and sober today by the grace of God!” Trejo wrote on Instagram. “I’ve done this one day at a time, and for anyone out there struggling YOU CAN TOO!”
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