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3L Greg Johannson shares his story of addiction so others will know that with the right supports, recovery is possible

Posted by Jane Doucet on February 27, 2017 in News
(Photo: Rachael Kelly)
(Photo: Rachael Kelly)

“Voluminous readings, high-stakes exams, and difficult content” are the main reasons for high levels of mental illness among law students, according to a Lawyers Weekly readers’ survey. Now imagine being a student who is addicted to drugs and alcohol trying to cope with the pressures of legal studies.

Greg Johannson was that student when he began his first year at the Schulich School of Law in September of 2012. He started using heroin daily that summer, but he had been abusing alcohol and other drugs since he was 15. “Through that first year of law school my life went downhill fast,” he says. “I didn’t make it through first semester.”

As an opiate addict, you wake up every morning with an overwhelming and unbearable physical and emotional pain. Every day is a struggle for survival.

Today Johannson, 33, is looking forward to competing in the Jessup Moot in Edmonton in March, graduating from law school in May, and continuing his articles in Gander, N.L., where he started last summer. He has come a long way since his journey with addiction began in his hometown of Vancouver. He says that by the time he was 18, drugs and alcohol were no longer fun – they were something he needed just to get by.

“But I didn’t stop,” says Johannson. “And at 25, I discovered opiates after breaking an ankle and being prescribed oxycodone for pain.” By 29, he was spending his days getting and using drugs in Halifax’s North End.

During his first semester at law school, Johannson began missing classes and assignments and finally spoke to Elizabeth Hughes, Assistant Dean, Academic, and Michael Deturbide, Associate Dean, Academic. They advised him to apply for a medical deferral, which was granted by the law school's Studies Committee. “I was struggling to get by,” he says, “but I knew I wanted to come back.”

Hitting rock bottom

In the winter of 2013, Johannson was homeless in Halifax. He was alone and had nowhere to go. “As an opiate addict, you wake up every morning with an overwhelming and unbearable physical and emotional pain. Every day is a struggle for survival,” he says. “You live in squalor and you hate who you have become, but the only thing that matters is getting your next hit.” Johannson returned to Vancouver and eventually came clean to family and friends about what had been happening in Halifax.

Back in Vancouver, Johannson paid daily visits to Insite, a supervised drug-injection site on Vancouver’s downtown East Side. On a day when his dealer didn’t have anything to sell, Johannson walked to the Vancouver Library to look up rehab centres in British Columbia. He got the number for a treatment centre called Cedars at Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island. Johannson returned to Insite and, after using, he sat on a milk crate around the corner from the facility and called Cedars at Cobble Hill.

“The guy who answered the phone heard the sirens in the background and said he had been where I was,” says Johannson. “I thought if he could do it, so could I. Three days later, I was there. Detoxing off heroin were probably the hardest two weeks of my life, but things have been infinitely better ever since.”

After two months, Johannson was sober – and he has remained so since the day he left rehab on May 20, 2013, what he calls his “Clean Day.” He’s grateful for the support he has received from family and friends.

Making his way back

For the next seven months, Johannson lived in a recovery house in Victoria, moving out in February of 2014. He and four of his housemates moved into an apartment in Victoria for four months, where he worked in a gourmet restaurant and attended recovery meetings. He moved out in July and returned to Halifax; he had been readmitted to law school and was ready to start first year again in September.

An essential part of the law school experience is having someone to sympathize and not judge. The law school and the faculty and students exemplify that acceptance.

“Professors Hughes and Deturbide were so supportive when I came back,” says Johannson. “An essential part of the law school experience is having someone to sympathize and not judge. It’s easier to be candid about my experience because society has become more accepting of addiction and other mental health conditions. The law school and the faculty and students exemplify that acceptance.”

When Johannson returned to school, he attended an eight-week Mindfulness in Law course, where he benefited from meditation—it’s something he continues to do because when he does it regularly, it lowers his anxiety and helps him sleep. “That course is a wonderful support,” he says, citing meditation as the single most important part of his recovery, along with attending regular recovery meetings in the community. To reduce stress, he plays squash, SCUBA dives, and does art projects.

Giving back

During second year, Johannson volunteered as a health mentor for students in Dal’s Faculty of Health Professions. He told his addiction-and-recovery story to them to build compassion and so they could learn how patients can manage their own conditions and care in tandem with the support of health professionals.

That same year, Johannson worked in a recovery house on Robie Street called Alcare Place, where he was a night-shift supervisor. “I loved it,” he says. “Most of the time nobody broke curfew and nothing went wrong, so I just did homework.” In 2015, he was on the executive of the law school’s Sober Support program, which helps students be safe at events where alcohol is present.

We’re all in this together at law school, and knowing you aren’t alone as you struggle through mental health issues is so important.

Johannson is very active in his recovery; he has a sponsor who helps him come to terms with his demons, attends weekly recovery meetings, and tells his story at Halifax detox and treatment centres and hospitals. He’s available to do informal peer support with other law students because he knows firsthand how important it is to have accessible support systems. In addition to turning to Professors Hughes and Deturbide when he needed help, he also talked to a counsellor at Dal’s Counselling and Psychological Services.

“I want other students to know that I understand what it’s like to feel hopeless, and that with the right supports, recovery from addiction is possible,” says Johannson. “We’re all in this together at law school, and knowing you aren’t alone as you struggle through mental health issues is so important.”

Companion piece

Darryl Singer is a civil and commercial litigation lawyer in Markham, Ont. Read his Feb. 18 Globe and Mail essay “A lawyer’s secret: Addiction, anxiety and depression,” about his recovery from an almost decade-long OxyContin addition.