A Cross Lanes man is in rehab after telling deputies President Barack Obama's speech last week inspired him to kick his drug addiction, officials say.
A press release from the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office detailed a call for help made on Oct. 21. When Deputy J.A. Smith arrived at the scene, a man exited a house, placed his hands on a wall and said he needed help, the release states.
Admitting he was a heavy drug user, the man, whose identity is being withheld, said he wanted to "live a drug-free life for his mother" after watching the president's Oct. 21 speech on drug addiction, according to the release.
The man then showed deputies a cooler where they found a set of digital scales, 16 suboxone packs and patches, marijuana, 19 grams of ecstasy and more than 150 pain pills. The deputies seized the items and submitted them to the office's evidence technician for disposal, according to the release.
No criminal charges were filed against the man, who was then taken to a treatment center, where he voluntarily entered a drug addiction rehabilitation program.
"If you're genuinely an addict who wants help, the first responders around the Kanawha Valley want to help," Sgt. Brian Humphreys said in a phone interview Wednesday.
While this isn't the first time someone struggling with addiction has called the authorities for help, "it's a little more noteworthy in today's drug climate - it's certainly something on everyone's minds," Humphreys said.