{"id":13569,"date":"2023-06-14T02:44:26","date_gmt":"2023-06-14T07:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=13569"},"modified":"2023-06-14T02:44:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T07:44:32","slug":"hunter-bidens-drug-use-back-in-public-eye-as-criminal-charges-could-be-around-the-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=13569","title":{"rendered":"Hunter Biden’s drug use back in public eye as criminal charges could be around the corner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was a Friday night when Hunter Biden<\/u><\/a> arrived at his parents\u2019 Delaware home for what he had been told would be a family dinner. But as soon as the drug-addicted son of future President Joe Biden walked through the door, he realized the family was planning an intervention, not a meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the tears, yelling and accusations of betrayal that followed, a visibly terrified Joe Biden turned to his son and pleaded. \u201cI don\u2019t know what else to do,\u201d he cried out. \u201cI\u2019m so scared. Tell me what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anna LaBarre knows that feeling of helplessness. She, too, has watched as an adult child with a brilliant future teetered close to self-destruction under the demons of addiction. On her work break, LaBarre used to get in her car, drive through the streets and alleys of Columbus, Ohio, and search for her daughter. She had no plans to approach the young woman should she actually find her. She just wanted to know she was alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d she\u2019d often tell her daughter in a cry that eerily echoed Joe Biden\u2019s words to his son. \u201cHelp me understand. I can\u2019t help you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunter Biden\u2019s battle with substance use is back in the spotlight as the White House prepares for the possibility that the president\u2019s youngest son could face criminal charges. Federal prosecutors are reportedly nearing a decision on whether to charge Hunter Biden with tax crimes and with making a false statement about a gun purchase<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can say with certainty the toll that Hunter Biden\u2019s addiction has exacted on the president and his family. Every case of addiction is different. Every family is affected in different ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while for most Americans addiction is a private family affair, many choose to keep a child\u2019s or sibling\u2019s substance abuse \u2013 and the criminal behavior that often accompanies it \u2013 a secret from even their most intimate friends. Hunter Biden\u2019s struggles have played out in public and in the political sphere inhabited by his father. Further complicating matters: Republicans have repeatedly sought to use the federal investigation into Hunter Biden\u2019s private affairs, and at times even his drug addiction, as part of their campaign to portray the Biden family as corrupt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps more than anyone else, families whose lives have been wrecked by the disease of addiction understand what the Bidens have endured as Hunter Biden fought through recovery.<\/strong> No one can know what it\u2019s like to have a child or sibling face down addiction until you\u2019ve gone through it yourself, they say. Addiction traumatizes not only the person suffering from dependency. It terrorizes the entire family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was horrible,\u201d said John Koch of Chicago, who got a protective order to keep his son, John Alexander Koch, away from the rest of the family when the son was deep in the throes of substance abuse. \u201cI would not wish it upon anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Families who\u2019ve lived through the trauma of addiction find it appalling that anyone\u2019s substance abuse issues would be turned into a political weapon, regardless of party affiliation. Hunter Biden\u2019s experiences show that addiction still carries a devastating stigma despite advances in the treatment and public perception of the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s really no one who is immune to this,\u201d said Alexis Pleus of Windsor, New York, whose son, Jeff Dugon, died of an accidental heroin overdose. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter \u2013 race, class, gender, what your income is, in the public eye, out of the public eye. Anyone can be affected. No one should be judged for this. Absolutely no one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not even the president’s son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘My son has done nothing wrong’:<\/strong>Biden defends son, Hunter Biden, in first interview since announcing his reelection bid<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘You gotta get some help’<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joe Biden, who has made overdose and addiction issues a priority<\/u><\/a> for his administration, rarely speaks publicly about his son\u2019s substance abuse. The White House declined to comment for this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the few occasions when the president has spoken about his son\u2019s addiction, it has usually been to vigorously defend him against partisan attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Donald Trump invoked Hunter Biden\u2019s drug abuse during a presidential debate in 2020<\/u><\/a>, Joe Biden came to his son\u2019s defense. \u201cMy son \u2013 like a lot of people, like a lot of people you know at home \u2013 had a drug problem,\u201d Biden said. \u201cHe\u2019s overtaken it, he\u2019s fixed it, he\u2019s worked on it. And I\u2019m proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with CBS News<\/u><\/a> on Feb. 5, 2021, an emotional Biden again praised his son for writing honestly about his addiction in his memoir, “Beautiful Things.<\/u><\/a>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’ll bet you there’s not a family you know that didn’t have somebody in the family who had a drug problem, or an alcohol problem,” the president said. “And he’s gone through hell.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading the memoir gave him hope, Biden said. “I mean, it was like my boy’s back,” he said, his voice breaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunter Biden has spoken candidly and written extensively about his battle with substance abuse. In his 2021 memoir, he recounted times when he would smoke crack cocaine every 15 minutes, the two weeks he spent thousands of dollars on drugs, and the 2019 intervention that ended with his father chasing him around outside the family home in Wilmington, Delaware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recalled how his father\u2019s enemies exploited his demons and addictions for political gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Hunter?\u201d was a frequent refrain among Republicans during the 2020 presidential contest. Trump\u2019s campaign made up T-shirts bearing the phrase and sold them for $25 a pop, in sizes ranging from small to XXXL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last fall, a private voice message that Joe Biden left to his son on Oct. 15, 2018, was leaked and aired by Fox News host Sean Hannity, ostensibly to provide insight into Hunter Biden\u2019s state of mind when he filled out the gun application under investigation by authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Biden\u2019s message to his son on that voicemail: \u201cIt’s Dad. I called to tell you I love you. I love you more than the whole world, pal. You gotta get some help. I know you don’t know what to do. I don’t either.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brandon Swinehart, who lived on the streets of San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin district for two years when he was heavily using drugs, can\u2019t understand how a father\u2019s message of love and support to a son who is battling addiction could end up being a political issue. Using Hunter Biden\u2019s addiction to score political points is \u201cprobably the most despicable thing I\u2019ve seen in my life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf some Republican\u2019s child had these issues and a Democrat did the same thing, I\u2019d say the same thing,\u201d said Swinehart, who has been sober for 18 years and now runs a screen-printing business in Cincinnati, Ohio. \u201cThis has nothing to do with competency or being president. This is someone\u2019s family. It\u2019s a family affair. Please stay out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Influence peddling?<\/strong>House GOP: Hunter Biden, others got $1.3M from business associate linked to China<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Why did they choose drugs over me?’<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gracie Parker never knew her mother. A heavy drug user, the young mom overdosed and was found dead at the bottom of a river six months after Gracie was born. Her father, who also suffers from a substance use disorder, has spent much of his life in and out of jail and rehab and has had next to no involvement in Gracie\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy did they choose drugs over me?\u201d Gracie often wonders of her mom and dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At age 10, she has become an advocate for other children dealing with trauma and has spoken at events across North Carolina and in Washington. Her grandparents, James Parker and Elke Kennedy of Franklin, North Carolina, have custody of her and are raising her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addiction \u201cchanges your whole life,\u201d said James Parker, whose son is Gracie\u2019s father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gracie\u2019s father has no idea what she goes through, \u201cand that makes me mad,\u201d James Parker said. \u201cWhy should my daughter have to stand up and talk about mental health for children at 10 years old?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other families tell similar stories of how a son\u2019s or daughter\u2019s addiction has destroyed marriages, of how an in-law\u2019s drug use has sowed lasting distrust and caused financial ruin, of how the trauma of a brother\u2019s or sister\u2019s behavior has lingered long after they\u2019ve gone into recovery \u2013 if they were lucky enough to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI impacted my family and those who cared about me in so many different ways,\u201d said Amy Molinski of Waterford, Wisconsin, who started using cocaine at age 17 and eventually gravitated toward heroin and oxycontin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molinski has been clean for 13 years and works as a peer support counselor at a drug addiction treatment center, but her mother was recently diagnosed with PTSD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything scares her,\u201d Molinski said. \u201cEverything startles her, and she may jump or yell or scream. And it really traces back to my addiction and the amount of trauma that caused her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molinski\u2019s sister-in-law, Annie Molinski of Burlington, Wisconsin, recalled the years when Amy was using drugs as \u201ca deep and dark, devastating time\u201d for the family. Amy Molinski was smart, crafty and deceptive, \u201ca master manipulator\u201d who would steal anything of value to support her habit, including money that her brother and future sister-in-law had saved for their wedding. One time, she even pawned her mother\u2019s wedding ring for a fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt a certain point, we were just in survival mode,\u201d said Annie Molinski, who recalls staying at her in-laws\u2019 home, reaching into the bathroom cabinet drawer for her toothbrush and accidentally grabbing hold of a heroin needle instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Bunch of Malarkey’:<\/strong>Biden dismisses GOP bribery allegations<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘So awful, you almost wish it was over’<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

John Alexander Koch of Phoenix, who was incarcerated 26 times and placed in treatment 22 times during his battle with heroin and opioid use<\/u><\/a>, remembers his mother getting down on her hands and knees in prayer position and begging him not to leave their home because she knew he was going to buy drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018I love you \u2013 I will do everything in my power to get you help, please don\u2019t go and use these drugs that are going to kill you,\u2019\u201d he recalls her pleading. All he could think of \u201cwas not that my mother is crying in front of me or that I\u2019ve hurt her so bad,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was that I hope my ride gets here soon enough so that I can take this $40 I have and feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another time, Koch overdosed on fentanyl<\/u><\/a>-laced heroin in the basement of the family home after Thanksgiving Dinner. A friend who supplied the drugs and was with Koch called 911. Unaware of the life-and-death drama unfolding just feet from them, his parents were relaxing upstairs on the couch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey got a knock on the door,\u201d said Koch, who has been in recovery for a decade and is now part of the senior leadership at Community Medical Services, a treatment program that helped change his life. \u201cIt was the ambulance, and they said you need to let us in right now. Someone\u2019s dying in your basement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His father followed the EMTs downstairs and watched as they injected his son with\u2002Narcan,<\/u><\/a> which reverses opioid overdoses. Their quick action saved his son’s life. But the horror of that ordeal turned the father into an advocate for making access to the drug more widely available \u2013 something that also has been a goal of the Biden administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen it gets so bad, it\u2019s so awful, you almost wish it was over,\u201d the father said. \u201cBecause you just don\u2019t know how much more you\u2019re able to take.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, LaBarre\u2019s daughter, Jessie Jennings of Columbus, Ohio, looked back on her addiction and the toll it took on her family with a sense of shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shame eventually turned to guilt, which enabled to her to start making amends to those she loved \u2013 for stealing money, jewelry, property, anything of value to support her habit, for selling the gift cards her parents gave her to purchase groceries and then using the money for drugs, for calling on her parents to pay her overdue rent so she wouldn\u2019t get evicted and turned out onto the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swinehart, who grew up in a wealthy Cincinnati suburb, overdosed 20 times and spent 13 months in prison when he was hooked on heroin and other drugs. He would often go months at a time without any contact with his parents or other loved ones. During those prolonged periods, his father would call the morgue to see if he had died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey loved it when I was in jail,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause they knew where I was, that I was safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After her son\u2019s death from an overdose, Pleus started\u2002Truth Pharm, a nonprofit organization that works to educate people on harm reduction strategies<\/u><\/a> and serves as a voice for those struggling with substance abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pleus applauds Hunter Biden for being open about his struggles. The scrutiny and criticism the Bidens and others in the public eye face can be crushing. But, Pleus said, their openness is helping to shed some of the stigma of addiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to get the message out to people that they shouldn\u2019t struggle alone and that they shouldn\u2019t struggle in shame and silence,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have to break the stigma by talking about this more. That\u2019s how we\u2019re going to solve the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

usatoday<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a Friday night when Hunter Biden arrived at his parents\u2019 Delaware home for what he had been told would be a family dinner. But as soon as the drug-addicted son of future President Joe Biden walked through the door, he realized the family was planning an intervention, not a meal. Amid the tears, yelling and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1169,2876,6677,7570,8360,8361],"class_list":["post-13569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-biden","tag-criminal-charges","tag-drug-addiction","tag-drug-use","tag-family-dinners","tag-public-view"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13575,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13569\/revisions\/13575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}