Biker's Paradise
by David Carraway

This article appeared in The Falcon Times
October 5, 1988

ACHIEVER'S EFFORTS HAS IT'S REWARDS: By helping others, (full name deleted) turns his life around

"I used to be in a motorcycle (club, and also) broke bones for a living. One of the reason's (I'm called "Bam-Bam") is because (I once broke a person's) knees with a baseball bat. That was a time when I hurt people on purpose because they owed (us) money..." ...

(Name deleted), a 29 year old drug rehabilitation counselor at Coral Springs Care Unit and a Dade-North student, is studying to be a Social Worker. He is involved in a motorcycle club, Fifth Chapter, which has a unique 12-step program for former gang members who wish to maintain a drug-free lifestyle. A New York Native who has a wholehearted love for the United States, ...is a political enthusiast. In regard to the upcoming '88 Presidential election, he said, "I am (a registered) Republican, but choosing a candidate for this year's election is like choosing the lesser of two evils. I definitely prefer Bush, but I don't think that Quayle is a good running mate. Quayle doesn't even have a political standpoint - it's his yuppie image the public looks at the most."

(He) also recognizes the achievements of the Nixon administration as opposed to the emphasis on the Watergate scandal, he has taken several measures of action protesting the state helmet law, and feels there is too much abuse of the foodstamp and welfare services. But there was a time when politics and social awareness were the furthest thing from his mind. That was when (he) was on drugs.

"I used to be heavy into drugs - both sales and abuse," (he) said.

"That's why I got divorced. I'd be in prison now, if I hadn't cleaned myself up. I was (before a Federal Grand Jury) in Maryland for drug trafficking (and) conspiracy charges, but my involvement in a (12-step program) earned me a probation.

"Right now, I just want to stay clean. Since I've been clean I've been able to keep a job, I've been able to have a healthy relationship with a woman, I can read a paper, and I feel very good about myself. I could never do those things with drugs. If I use drugs again, I'll lose everything I worked so hard to regain. I definitely wouldn't be in school right now, because I used to hate society...I hated having to listen to people - especially authority figures..Now I don't complain about society anymore, because I feel like I'm a part of society again."

...He has traveled to New York, as well as several upstate Florida cities on his bike...He has appeared on a few episodes of Miami Vice and he has also worked in a movie called Welcome to Spring Break, which is due out in February. He is a brown belt in Karate and has participated in a national powerlifting contest where he bench pressed (450) pounds.

"That's another reason I'm called 'Bam-Bam' - I'm like a kid who doesn't know his own strength."

...As (he) said, changing the way the government is run and changing one's life are both the same thing: the change must come from within. This is the hardest task of an achiever, and as (he) continues to influence lives of other recovering addicts, an achiever's effort will not be without its personal rewards.