Millennial Addicts - The New Face of Addiction

The face of drug abuse and addiction is changing and it's getting younger at an alarming rate. Sonia and Soraya come to The Doctors to share their stories of being millennial addicts.

Sonia says she came from a "typical middle-class family" and went to a private school. After being picked on for her appearance at age 13, she tells us turned to drugs and alcohol to appear "cool." During college, Sonia says her drug use expanded to mixing opiates, benzodiazepines, and alcohol. After college, she shares that she began taking multiple drug-fueled road trips with friends and she claims she was unaware that these trips were actually used to allegedly transport cocaine from southern to northern California. During one last trip transporting drugs, she was arrested and is facing up to 51 months in prison.

Watch: ‘Assume Your Kids are On Drugs’ Says Addiction Specialist

Soraya says she had a good family life and was doing well in school and does not feel like anyone would ever suspect she was an addict. At 14, she says she took her first Xanax, which she says then led to taking Adderall, which she says helped her with her homework. She tells us she then began selling drugs to other students. After high school, she reveals she began selling cocaine, ecstasy, acid, and a variety of opiate pills. She says she also started taking and smoking OxyContin, which caused her to overdose. She says she was then arrested for petty theft, burglary, grand theft and had many overdoses. Eventually, her drug abuse led to her becoming homeless and living at a train station. She tells us, "I lost everything."

Joining The Doctors, Sonia shares that she is now 3 years sober and Soraya says she is 5 and half years sober. Sonia explains that she is at peace with the possibility of spending years behind bars. "Even though I am clean today, it doesn't erase the things that I have done in my past, even if it was in my addiction... in meetings, we call it the wreckage of our past."

Watch: Will the Opioid Epidemic Get Worse?

Drug and alcohol counselor Bob Forrest from Alo House also weighs in on this growing epidemic among young people.

"The access to prescription drugs in America became crazy in the last 15 years," he says, explaining that he when he was first in rehab at the age of 27, he was the youngest person getting treatment at that particular facility. Now at Alo House, being 27 would make you one of the oldest people at the facility.

He adds, "We cannot allow a whole generation of people to be destroyed by drugs... there's something wrong with us that all our kids are anesthetizing themselves with drugs."

Watch the video below to find out the chilling reason Soraya says she was finally able to get sober.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction please call the confidential and free National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP or visit their website.