Reference no: EM133582683

Ted Talks

In this video Tony Hoffman talks about a heroin user using gutter water to shoot up and asks what do you think happens to this person? He talks that their will be a stigma that follows this person. He was on the cover of a BMX magazine at 18 and thought he could smoke weed just once, but he has an addiction gene and he can not control it. Soon he was smoking weed everyday and using cocaine. Then he committed a robbery to get pain pills and went to a drug rehab because he didn't want to go to prison for 10 years. He did relapse and then he didn't see his parents for a long time. He got to a point when he was kicked out of his friends house and he tried to find somewhere to stay dry. His friend who's house he got kicked out of later overdosed. He states that he didn't understand that the drugs that doctors prescribe are the same thing as the drugs that the cartels push. He says he has had 11 friends overdoes. He spent the next 6 months on the street. On January 21 2007 and on January 22nd he was arrested for breaking into a house because he needed somewhere to sleep or he would freeze to death. He was in prison and read an inspiring message on the prison wall that helped change his thinking. Be careful what you do because your through become your words be careful because your words become your actions, your actions become habit, your habits becomes character and character becomes destiny. This really inspired him to set 4 goals, to go back to BMX, to go to the Olympics, to make a non profit for kids and then to become a motivational speaker. He was faced by stigmas, a police officer in prison said that he would just go back to prison again and to give up on those dreams. His parole officer said he would go back to prison to his mother.
Five months later he did his professional BXM race and made 3rd place, and then won a lot of races, and he got into the Olympic training center. In 2010 he started to become a speaker. In 2011 he blew his knee out and ended his career. In 2016 he was most sought-after speaker. His charity ended up giving away thousands of dollars and gear to children. In 2016 he was in the Rio games. He accomplished all 4 goals he set. He says that he was the man in the beginning that was using gutter water to shoot up heroin. He says that the stigma says that drug addicts will never be good enough for employment. He says that stigma lack will power, that drug addicts choose that lifestyle. He says that he will always face stigmas because of his past. He is trying to help break stigmas down by telling his story.

Two things I learned:

1. I learned that addiction can be overcome with personal will power and that change is possible for addicts.
2. I learned that using drugs even one time can lead to addiction, as the speaker states that he wasn't aware that if he smoked pot just once that he would ended up homeless and in prison a few years later.

Combatting Stigma

This video can be used to teach the public and combat stigma by providing personal testimony. One way to combat stigma is to have people interview or meet people suffering from addiction and have them explain from their perspective how it occurred and what its like. By explain his story he shows that addicts could change and that he is a living example that breaks stigma, but the stigma of addiction still follows his despite his success. The stigma of addiction held him back initially with making his program that benefited youth in his community however it ultimately did not hold him back and he was able to make a youth organization. I learned in class that youths that participate in extracurricular activities are less likely to grow up and do drugs so his program is very beneficial.