My Husband's Three Stints in a Drug Rehab Center—What Saw Us Through to Recovery?

(Minghui.org) My husband was injected with drugs by so-called “friends” after he got drunk at a party in 2009. Over the next six years, the police took him to the local drug rehabilitation center three times. He kept relapsing until he started to read Falun Dafa books with my mother and me. Seven months later, he was a new person and even went back to work. Before sharing his story, I'll tell mine first. 

I had health problems since I was a child. After I had heart surgery when I was 7 years old, I was plagued by chronic headaches. I managed to finish middle school but could not continue due to my poor health. 

At that time, my mother started to practice Falun Dafa. Several of her ailments were resolved, including heart disease, tracheitis, arthritis, and migraine headaches. Her temper also improved, and our family was happier than ever. Impressed by her positive changes, I began going to a local park with her to do the Falun Dafa exercises each morning. I also read Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Dafa, with her. 

Getting Married

In 1997 my aunt opened a business in a coastal city and asked if I could help out. I said I would even though I was only 17. While I was there, I slowly stopped doing the exercises and studying the teachings. 

I returned home in 2000 and found another job. At that time, my mother had been sent to a forced labor camp because she practiced Falun Dafa. My father was supportive of her even though he did not practice himself. After the persecution started in 1999, however, the slanderous propaganda misled him. His negative words also affected me and pulled me away from Dafa. I could not understand why she was so determined to continue under such a nationwide suppression. Every day I just hung out with my friends and drank with them to kill time. 

One coworker introduced someone to me who later became my husband. After we dated for a while, my parents checked around and heard that he had a bad reputation—he was almost like a mafia member. He did not even finish high school and just played around with his friends all day long. His family was worried about his fighting, drinking, and gambling, but they could not do anything about it. 

I was muddleheaded at the time. To me, he was handsome and a good talker. He treated me well and took me to eat at nice restaurants. He also had many friends and could find help whenever I needed it. Mother kept asking me to break up with him, but I ignored her. My father was very upset and eventually developed heart disease. Mother had no choice but to agree to go along with me.

It wasn't until after we were married that I learned my parents were right. There's an old Chinese saying, “If you do not listen to the old man, you will suffer pretty soon.” Every day my husband ate, drank, and wasted time with his friends. He usually did not return home until late at night. He did not care about me at all and was not happy when he stayed home. He was like a different person.

One day when he was gone for several hours, I went to where he was and asked him to come home. Thinking he’d lost face in front of his friends, he threatened to beat me even though I was eight months pregnant. After our son was born he still did not care about living as a family, so I raised our son by myself. 

My mother-in-law was in poor health and could not help me. I asked my mother if she would take care of the child so I could work. Even though I’d refused to listen to my parents, Mother agreed to help me because Falun Dafa taught her compassion and forgiveness. Besides helping with my son, Mother also tried to help me. She pointed out that I was under a lot of stress. She also reminded me to be considerate of others instead of complaining.

I was moved by her ability to forgive me. She explained that practicing Falun Dafa taught her compassion, but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecutes Falun Dafa and its principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. 

Resuming Practice

Touched by my mother's words I watched the DVDs she gave me about Falun Dafa. I understood why practitioners cherished Dafa so much. I also learned how a former CCP leader and other officials made up lies to defame Dafa and mislead people. Mother reminded me how my poor health improved after I began practicing Dafa, which was why I was healthy and energetic today. 

She explained that the real purpose of life is not to fool around and sink deeper into the mundane world; it was to become a good person and return to our heavenly home. “To achieve that, one needs to cultivate, and Dafa is the best and only path for that,” she added. In 2007, I resumed practicing Falun Dafa. 

Because of my responsibilities, I only studied the teachings and did the exercises in my spare time. I was unable to tell more people about Dafa and debunk the defamatory propaganda like some other practitioners. Still, Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) took care of me. I felt better and I no longer complained about my husband. Instead, I treated him well. I was happy when he came home and was not upset when he was gone. I also talked with him, hoping he would become a better person. I said that we should be responsible parents and raise our child together. 

I don't know how much he accepted what I said or if he was even listening. I just wanted him to be good and for us to have a happy family. 

Our Nightmare Begins

In 2009, my husband got drunk with his “friends,” who secretly injected him with drugs. He became addicted, but I did not know about it. I only knew that he suddenly stopped going out and began staying home. One day when I returned home in the middle of the day, I found him injecting drugs. I was shocked, because that is a path of no return. If he continued, his life and our family would be finished. 

I asked my husband to stop, but he refused to listen. When his mother heard about his drug addiction, she said the same thing. But he ignored her, too. After he ran out of money, he began to borrow from everyone we knew to buy drugs. He contacted my coworkers and relatives and anyone he knew. He even went to my father’s friends to borrow money in my father's name. He pawned my fur coat. When his father went to get his paycheck, he was told that my husband had already taken the money. My husband applied for a credit card and borrowed 60,000 yuan on it. 

In 2010 the police had my husband admitted to a drug rehabilitation center for two years. Before he left, my mother talked to him and asked him to take care of himself. “I will help take care of your wife and son. When you come back, we are still one family,” she said. My husband was very touched. 

To help me, my mother moved in with me. This made it easier for me to do the exercises and study the Fa. She also began to print materials about the persecution to help people understand the facts about Dafa and the persecution. I was afraid and did not want to participate. She explained the importance of doing this—that millions of people had been poisoned by the CCP's lies and needed to know the truth.

I agreed with her and began to help. I bought supplies, and whenever I had time, I printed materials and gave them to practitioners in the countryside. Because I am good at typing, practitioners often gave me their articles and asked me to help organize them. One time, I received an article very late for an experience-sharing conference that would stop accepting submissions the following day. I worked until midnight and finished it on time for online submission. 

We held Fa-study at my home, and as the other practitioners talked about their cultivation experiences, I felt myself improving quickly. I finally repaid all the money my husband borrowed and I had no resentment. I knew that Dafa helped me.

Two More Times in the Drug Rehabilitation Center

When my husband returned home two years later, I looked after him and encouraged him to do well. My mother also encouraged him to change. Moved by our sincerity and kindness, my husband wept and said, “I promise to stay away from drugs, instead of making such foolish mistakes.” Three months later, however, he was on drugs again. To make more money, drug dealers found him and made him inject drugs again. This time, it was even worse than before. 

The drug rehabilitation center director once said that drug addicts will inject themselves with anything they can find. “They will die that way sooner or later,” he said. About 10 months after getting out, my husband was sent to the drug rehabilitation center again. His father was so angry and upset that he died. We thought that would wake my husband up and help him change. But he looked dumb and had little expression on his face. “He is not a human being anymore,” one of his relatives said. 

I reminded myself that I was a practitioner and I did not give up on him. I continued to visit him. He swallowed a cigarette lighter and needed surgery. My mother took care of my son, while I stopped working to look after my husband until he was out of the emergency room. I did not complain and just told him not to do silly things like that again. I knew I was able to forgive him because I practiced Falun Dafa. Had I not, I would have abandoned him a long time ago and our family would have been broken. 

Master said, 

“‘Since learning Falun Dafa these workers have been putting in extra hours and working conscientiously and with a lot of heart. They don’t quibble over the work they’re assigned to do, and aren’t just thinking about themselves.’”(The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun) 

After I started to practice again, I diligently followed Dafa's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in my daily life. Besides fulfilling my own duties, I also helped others. I often did the work that others did not want to do, and I had no resentment. I was always pleasant to coworkers and customers. The managers were impressed by my kindness and praised my congeniality. For many years, I was often awarded prizes as a province-level and model employee. I just felt I was being a responsible practitioner. 

Two years later, my husband was released from the drug rehabilitation center, only to be sent back six months later for another two years. This was his third stint. He began having health issues, so the doctors released him on medical bail. While my husband received medical care, my mother and I discussed what we should do. We both agreed we could not let my husband continue to suffer. We needed to help him. 

My husband was actually not a bad person and he had a good understanding of Dafa. He knows my mother is a practitioner and he respects her. Whenever the police began to arrest practitioners, as soon as he heard about it, he would call Mother and alert her. When Mother was arrested and detained in 2009, my husband and his sister went to the police department every day requesting her release. 

It is true my husband is a drug addict. But he is also a victim. Those drug dealers kept doing bad things to him and would not let him go. Every time he returned from the drug rehabilitation center, he wanted to quit. But the dealers tried every means to get hold of him, pushing him further and further. 

Both Mother and I are practitioners and we know Dafa is boundless, so we wanted to save my husband. His sister also came to us. “Only Dafa can save my brother,” she said, begging Mother to help my husband practice Falun Dafa. My husband’s parents and siblings all witnessed how good practitioners are and they have faith in Dafa. 

A New Beginning

Since my husband trusted Mother, she talked to him. To our surprise, he agreed immediately. But the interference was huge. In the beginning, we agreed to listen to one audio lecture each day at his parents’ home. The first day, he was very sincere and listened attentively. By the third day, however, he said he needed to do something for a friend. He stopped coming and kept saying he was busy. 

We knew this was interference that was preventing him from being helped. So we changed the time to the evening and the three of us would watch Master’s video lectures at my place. Even though it was only one hour each time, my husband was sometimes clear-minded and sometimes was not. He also occasionally went to the bathroom. Mother also sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference. 

Mother came to my place every day and brought food that my husband likes. Because of the drugs, my husband’s liver was damaged. After several days, his stomach was swollen like a rubber ball. Mother told him not to worry since Master was cleansing his body. That night, my husband slept soundly. Every day Mother cooked delicious food for dinner and my husband was very thankful. 

Occasionally, my husband’s addiction overcame him and he secretly injected drugs. We pretended not to notice and did not blame him. We still treated him with kindness. Sometimes I became anxious, thinking he was hopeless. But Mother did not give up. I knew this was her faith in Dafa and Master and she believed my husband could be saved. 

One day, Mother came as usual, but my husband was not quite right. He secretly took drugs and stayed in the bathroom for over an hour. Then he kept criticizing me and did not mention group study at all. Mother had no choice but to leave. After she returned the following day, however, my husband continued as if nothing had happened the day before. 

Making Progress

After some time, there was another type of interference. The police arrested Mother for her belief and detained her for five days. The day she was released, my husband’s mother and his sister came to my mother and begged her to continue group study with my husband. We resumed watching the videos and gradually my husband changed. His health improved and he used drugs less and less. 

Master said, 

“Some people say that recreational drug use is no big deal and that it seems harmless. And sure, people feel pretty good when they try it. What if they do it again? There’s no apparent problem. How about one more time? Then their self-control starts to erode. But why is that? When that substance is inhaled, inside of your body it forms a very thin and light version of you. One hit is all it takes, since it’s highly poisonous. And with the second hit, that version of you that was thin and light grows a bit denser. And it will continue to get denser with each subsequent hit, growing stronger and sturdier. It will have the full structure of your body as well as thinking, and be an entirely drug-induced and demonic version of you. Of course, it may not do anything other than crave drugs. It can’t bear to be without them. That’s because it is now alive. So what happens, then? As you might imagine, it will become progressively lighter if you stop using drugs, as a result of your body’s metabolic processes, until eventually it dies.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2019 New York Fa Conference”)

My husband’s addiction gradually started to weaken. One day he was good, but the next day he wanted to inject drugs. One moment he was clear-minded, but after a while he was muddleheaded again. But we were not distracted. We sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference and begged Master to save him. 

During this process, I enlightened to some Fa principles. That is, the process of helping my husband quit drugs was also a process for us to improve our xinxing. At first I helped my husband due to sentimentality and caring about our family and child. This later turned into compassion. I treated my husband as a sentient being and I felt the responsibility of saving him. During that period of time, I was also able to let go of my resentment and replaced it with compassion. 

After seven months, my husband was able to stay away from drugs and regained his health. His weight increased to normal. His temper also improved—he was happy and full of energy every day. During the pandemic, he worked at a clinic and helped patients. Because of his good attitude and work ethic, he was rewarded by his employer. 

We are all grateful to Master for saving my husband and my family. Because of my husband’s drug addiction, his mother was upset and became ill. Now she is healthy and happy. My husband’s sister is also very thankful. “Falun Dafa is great!” she often tells people. “Without Dafa, my brother would have died and our family would be broken. Thank you, Falun Dafa and Master Li!”