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By 24, Mark J had his life mapped out. He was going to be a dentist. He was going to be married and have the Beamer, the 2.5 kids, a home in the islands, and one in the District. But it didn’t work out that way. The only child of professional parents, he was surrounded by loving family and friends and was set to graduate from Howard University. But opportunity had its downside: drugs, alcohol, and their lure of money and prestige.

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"I became involved in selling drugs to get in with the in crowd, I did a lot of partying, a lot of marijuana, alcohol, hash, opium, PCP, any kind of drug you can name. I wasn’t big on heroin, but I had tried it. I thought I would be able to go to dental school, still get high, and pass and succeed.”