Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Feb. 26, 1987, edition 1 / Page 3
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sday, February 26,1987 The Pendulum Features Page 3 ormer basketball star tells ow cocaine ruined his life By Aleta Sinkfield Staff Writer :, ike Helms was on top of the Id as a star basketball player ake Forest University in the ly 1980s. u( within a startlingly short . he was in a crowded, dirty n. forced to stuff tissue in his to ward off cockroaches that ed over him in bed. caused Helms to fall so so fest? ocaine. ' one point he was so addicted e drug that if he saw white *ks on the floor, he would h for them, hoping they Id be bits of cocaine td restore high. His habit eventually was ing him $600 to $700 a day. aving turned to dealing to rthis habit, Helms'was ar- for drug trafficking in For- County, N.C., in March 3. He was tried, convicted and lenced to two years in jail, w even then the need to have white substance would not let During a work-release . Helms was again caught with linig and was given an addi- I 14 years on his prison tence, oday Helms’ Homy'isJA^ '■am Honor Grade'Cjunpj^ ^ • nee County.. He tours me giving lectures on the gers of drug abuse. He’s try- •o get his life back together, elms spoke to athletes anil r members of the Elon .Gol- community last Friday. The Mr-old former basketball star llie first speaker in the col- s week-long symposium on •ance abuse. roughout junior high and school, Helms participated uch sports as track, football, ss country and basketball. By sophomore year, he focused I'is attention on basketball and was named among the top t^sketball players in Virginia, there, he went on to sign a larship to Wake Forest. Wn All-Atlantic ’ Coast fsnce honors and was later l>y the Houston Rockets in *^rth round. What went ■'8 slong the road of this suc- After signing his basketball scholarship to attend Wake Rjrest, Helms went out with a few of his friends to celebrate. It was there that he smoked marijuana for the first time. Unfortunately, as time went on, his continuing “celebra tions” led him to prison, to which he refers as his “hell on earth.” Prison has its minor and major discomforts. Helms pointed out. The minor discomforts consist of overpopulation and unsanitary conditions. There are 160 men housed at the prison camp where Helms does time, yet there is on ly enough room for 120 to 130 men. He said this becomes a big problem, especially when there are only six toilets and eight showers to be shared by this group of inmates. Major discomforts, he said, revolve around men seeking love and companionship, results in homosexuality. “You must be strong in order not to f^l prey to such activity,” he said. Helms said he was first in troduced to cocaine at a party when a guy entered the room with a mirror on which a white substance was placed. He was told that it was cocaine and told to give it a try. Since he had mastered alcohol and marijuana, he said he thought he could master cocaine, but it was not true. He soon developed a very expensive habit. To support his need for the drug. Helms turned to selling cocaine. During a sale in March 1983, he was arrested by an undercover policeman in Forsyth County. Ac cording to Helms, he was ’’set up” by one of his “ business associates. ” A judge sentenced him to two years in prison, giving Helms am ple time to change his life for the better. It did not quite work that vray. Helms wound up in court again for his infatuation with co caine. This time he &ced another judge, who referred to him as “hard-headed” since Helms had Mike Helms abused his chance to turn his life around. Because of this, that judge sentenced Helms to an ad ditional 14 years. Since November 1983, Helms has feced the reality of having to spend seven to eight years of a 16-year sentence in prison. Upon release from prison. Helms said, his main goal is to complete the eight semester hours he has left at WWce Forest and to get his degree. As he visits schools giving his anti-drug lec tures, he stresses that it is up to the individual to make the first step toward recovery by admitting to himself that he has a drug pro blem and needs help. BACON STRIP DOMINO’S PIZZA ‘ I I > ^ >1 4 i« II '• III i'l ' 1986 Domino's Pizza, Inc. . |.V ... j.'. i I \burbosslson ^ the intercom. H^havii^ chest pains. It could be nothing. Or it could be a heart attack. Does someone there knos^' CPRT Do you? It can mean the difference l>elween life and death. Call us. Red Cross will teach you what >'0u need to know. American Red Cross We'll help. Will you? ■ IFY0U1HINK ALL WE DO IS MAKE CONES, YOU ARE INVITEDTOSEE WHAT ELSE ATTENTION Fraternities & Sororities We Can Fill Your Printing Needs RESUME SPECIAL 50 Resumes 50 Cover Letter Sheets 50 Envelopes $17.95 Additional charge for typeset ting and typing. A HRINTINC^ 2549 S. Church Street Burlington, NC 584-0072
Elon University Student Newspaper
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Feb. 26, 1987, edition 1
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