We’re excited to kick off this series with a great read from our new friend, Jet Turner, guitarist for long-running Canadian band Boys Night Out. Below, he tells his story in an open, honest, and humble manner, and we can’t thank him enough for taking the time, being so vulnerable, and really getting into some of what Start Today Harm Reduction
is here to help with.

Take it away, Jet…

I come from a pretty successful family who were trying to set me up to be successful. I went to a private school on a small island off the coast of where I grew up (St. Simons Island) and lived in Brunswick, GA (the mainland) in middle school. When outside influences started to appeal to me, I found myself getting along less and less with people at my small private school. It was very elitist. Myself and my brother and maybe one other person were the only students who didn’t live on the island we went to school on. We were always considered outsiders. By 8th grade I had discovered punk rock and was in full on rebellion against the school, the people that went there, and my parents. I begged to go to public school but I ended up getting kicked out.

I hit the ground running in 9th grade. I was so ready to make a name for myself and I quickly ran across a group of people who were privy to chemically changing the way they felt. This quickly became my MO. By 12th grade I was already into pretty much everything and was a known party guy. I was also a known musician and by 12th grade, I already had a band doing bigger things. 

At my dad’s request, I gave college a chance but I dropped out really quickly when my band at the time was offered a tour. This became the central theme to my life – giving up anything to chase music. My 20’s were a blur of touring and throwing home shows and different business ventures, but the most common themes were – doing anything it took to keep the band going and getting as fucked up as possible along the way. This continued well into my 30’s. I had to have a couple surgeries along the way, and I was no stranger to opiates. They were always my favorite. In my mid 30’s, the band I was in that was probably the closest to doing something real broke up and I took it so hard. I had poured my entire soul into that band and we had come really close to doing something with a major label.  

I was devastated and my use afterwards ramped all the way up. I eventually pawned all my gear and graduated to IV heroin. I wanted to die and I was trying every day. I did this for like 6 sad years before I finally admitted I had a problem. I tried and tried to get clean in my hometown but nothing ever stuck. It took getting arrested the last time and taking someone’s advice to get the fuck out of my home town. I was lucky enough to meet the girl I would marry while I was living in a halfway house in this time period. We started talking nonstop and I started finding reasons outside of music to stay clean. She had kids. I can’t have kids. I wanted a family. She was my dream girl. Literally out of my league. But we kept talking and talking and started dating and we were married 6 months later.  

She saved my life. Her and the kids literally saved my life.  

Being in recovery and in Boys Night Out has honestly been amazing. The two are directly related. I have been off heroin for about 5 years and I’m so proud to say that, but that doesn’t go to say that my entire recovery since leaving my hometown and getting married and moving away has been without incident. I’ve had a few relapses and had to learn the hard way that I have some other mental issues going on. I was diagnosed with Major Depression and generalized anxiety about two years ago. I’ve been treating those disorders with meds and I’ve been an active member of NA and HNI. Joining BNO, who is literally my favorite band of all time, was just more evidence than anything that the person I am when I’m working a program in recovery is capable of anything.

There hasn’t been too much to navigate, everyone in my band is super respectful of my stance on recovery and mental health. I’m what I guess most people would refer to as “Cali sober,” as I just quit doing the poison that was killing me. I still smoke. I still have a good time. But I’m a super advocate for anyone doing any version of recovery that they feel safe with. My message is simple: “recovery isn’t cookie cutter.” What works for me won’t work for anyone else – we just all have to be really honest with ourselves about what we can handle and what is best for our recovery in the long run. For me, smoking weed is part of the process. I wouldn’t have found my higher power without it.

The best advice I can give anyone who’s trying to get or stay clean is really simple – don’t lie to yourself. I used to do it all the time and am still very capable of doing it now. You have to be really honest with yourself. While we were on tour, I was pretty much in my sponsor’s ear all day long and I did bare minimum one zoom meeting a day. I was lucky enough to catch a couple in person meetings in cities that I had recovery friends within. 

[This] tour was insane from beginning to end. And not even in a “crazy party stories” kinda way. We did everything ourselves. We managed it ourselves, we handled the logistics ourselves, loaded our own gear, did our own tech. It was such a cool experience, but it was challenging to both my recovery and my mental health and I’ll definitely need to keep the entire experience in mind if we ever set out to do it again.”