Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Welcome back, folks.
[00:00:04] In my last episode about myself, we spoke about Cherry Computers.
[00:00:10] So I did work at Cherry Computers for quite some time before I took over as the managing director.
[00:00:17] There was another gentleman, Patrick, he was the managing director.
[00:00:23] He then decided to go overseas and that's how I took over as managing director.
[00:00:30] Patrick was a colorful character, turned out to be a very good friend of mine and he is also my eldest daughter's godfather.
[00:00:40] Now, besides that, you probably would have heard about Australia's biggest drug hole seized by AFP and other members of law enforcement.
[00:00:54] Patrick was convicted after trying to sail a boat back into Geraldton with $1.1 billion worth of methamphetamines on board.
[00:01:05] Patrick's now serving life in prison in wa.
[00:01:11] But getting back to the story of Cherry Computers, I continued to work there.
[00:01:17] I then ended up managing a store at Parabanc Shopping Centre and things continued. But what was happening was I was getting more involved in taking drugs, so I was taking speed pills and things like that, which is pretty awful.
[00:01:39] It wasn't a good thing, but I thought it was at the time to keep me going.
[00:01:46] Unfortunately, that escalated and things like that.
[00:01:49] So I ended up leaving Cherry Computers in the hands of other people and I ended up taking over a fish and chip shop for some time. Funny as it be now that I cook for the homeless, but that was my first experience in takeaway.
[00:02:08] I ran that and it was quite a good experience, but there was a lot of demons in me from taking drugs. I was still taking drugs, so that probably.
[00:02:20] I was only probably there for about 18 months doing that.
[00:02:26] It was good Brahma Lodge takeaway.
[00:02:28] We did chickens, fish and chips, hamburgers, and then I ended up bringing in a pizza cooker and we did pizzas as well.
[00:02:37] We continued on from there, but then enough was enough.
[00:02:43] I'd had enough of that.
[00:02:45] I couldn't keep continuing to do it and think things like that, so I stopped doing that.
[00:02:54] I then met up with another chap, his name was Jason.
[00:03:00] We decided to open Pole Position Performance in Salisbury doing custom exhaust systems and things like that.
[00:03:10] But what we were also doing was trafficking machine methamphetamines, which is.
[00:03:18] Yeah, it was. Yeah, we did traffic quite a lot of methamphetamines to the point where we were both unfunctional.
[00:03:30] The business didn't go very well.
[00:03:33] We'd open some days, wouldn't open others, or I'd turn up and Jason wouldn't.
[00:03:39] There was a lot of fights, arguments between us because of.
[00:03:44] Because of addiction, but we Soldiered on and we kept going with that business.
[00:03:51] Unfortunately, that didn't even eventuate either.
[00:03:56] I left.
[00:03:58] Left Jason with that.
[00:04:02] And then several years later, Jason and I hooked back up again as friends.
[00:04:07] We were doing other things, obviously, including trafficking and distribution of methamphetamines.
[00:04:17] But what happened was, and this is a sad side about drugs, people get so involved in it.
[00:04:24] Jason ended up committing suicide, which was very, very, very, you know, a shocking situation for his family, his mother.
[00:04:37] So, yeah, these are the types of things that happen when you get involved in drugs. These are the types of things that happen when you use drugs.
[00:04:47] Past traumas. There's all sorts of reasons why you would use drugs, and it's mainly due to a past trauma.
[00:04:55] Jason had previously been in jail for something else, and I think it was a coping mechanism for him. So rather than reach out and get some assistance with counseling, Jason chose to use drugs, as did I.
[00:05:13] So these are the things we need to stop and think about.
[00:05:17] When you take it from a party aspect to even wanting to try drugs to the ramifications that come after, it's not easy to stop.
[00:05:31] And then when you first do it, like, I'd never smoked methamphetamines prior in my life until Jason introduced me to it. And it's not Jason's fault.
[00:05:44] He kept saying to me, I don't think you need to do this like I do. I don't think you need to do this. And then one day I decided, ah, bugger it. Instead of just dipping my finger in the bag and tasting it every now and again like I was doing, I decided to smoke methamphetamines or ice.
[00:06:00] Once I did, I was hooked. I could not stop. It gave me an euphoric feeling that I can't really put my words to.
[00:06:14] But the problem is you can't stop. And that's what the biggest problem is. I couldn't stop because I wanted to continue to feel that euphoric feeling, the drive and all that that it gives you.
[00:06:29] But then there's major crashes. You know, you can continue to go up and be high, but then there's major downfalls. You know, you're up for days at a time, and then you obviously got a crash and you can't function. And that's what the thing is with uppers. You can't continue to stay on an upper because your body can't tolerate it. Sleep deprivation.
[00:06:52] And sleep deprivation is proven to kill people. If you stay awake for too long, you will die.
[00:06:58] But that's another topic. These are the things that we need to discuss, to talk about, of a way out of this. You can't continue to keep doing that.
[00:07:12] So after Jason died, I promised his mum that I'll change my life, I wouldn't do this anymore. But it wasn't that easy, unfortunately. I kept doing it, you know.
[00:07:27] Yeah, it's just one of those things that you just can't stop.
[00:07:31] You need to go and talk to someone, you need to find out why that you do this. And that's one of the things that we need to talk to other people about, to bring them in to discuss that, because it's a horrible situation to be in. It's a revolving circle of going round and round, highs and lows, highs and lows.
[00:07:55] And if you think there's money to be made out of drugs, trust me, you're terribly wrong. I didn't do it.
[00:08:01] Patrick didn't do it. Patrick's now serving life in jail in a wa prison for attempting to import $1.1 billion worth of methamphetamines.
[00:08:13] Now, that could have been me involved in that, but at the time, I was already serving a jail sentence, which you'll find out later about why I guess I escaped that one.
[00:08:26] But in hindsight, I'm glad I did and I'm glad I was in jail trying to reform.
[00:08:33] Those are some of the things we're going to keep talking about. Next time, folks.
[00:08:37] Much love and respect, Don Barron.
