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there are things that we re taught in the mormon church not to do. drinking and smoking. you know, there are some ideals that we strive for. get married. you know, multiply and replenish the earth. there s that pressure to be perfect. and since we don t drink, there s always the pills, which aren t really talked about. kathy wants to talk about the pills. she s been wrestling with sobriety after long-term abuse of painkillers. a leader in her church, she s not at all the face you d expect to see representing drug addiction. and neither is her daughter,
was two months ago. she s going to die if she doesn t get sober, because the kinds of drugs we were doing, people don t live to be 30. shannon puts us in touch with her friend, sarah, someone she says grew up just like she did, who started pills just like she did, but who is still using and is now virtually homeless. we are on our way to meet shannon s friend, sarah. she told us to meet her today at 3:00, but she s been unresponsive by phone, which is not surprising. i mean, she s been using quite heavily, and this place where she s staying is really just a temporary one. so, we re hoping she s there. so, which one is it, court? the top left, with the boarded-up windows. so we re all going to go and see if it s okay with the people who are also staying here if we go in and shoot. go. my producers and i head up to check things out, leaving the cameras below. sarah no longer has her own place to live. she doesn t even have her own
shannon. shannon is just recently clean herself. mother and daughter, both addicted, both tired of the secrecy. how bad would you say the problem is here in utah? i think it s worse than what people know, realize. and why do you say that? because i know a lot of people are like me. they want to keep it secret. there s this pressure to be perfect. what was it like to grow up here? we were very active members of the church, and i had a good childhood. i never smoked or drank or did anything like that. never. your whole life you never did any of that stuff? no. i really didn t. then what happened? well, just a few years ago i was rollerblading, and i twisted my ankle real bad. you know, the doctor gave me some painkillers. i started taking them, thinking, you know, okay, it s like medicine, so how quickly would you say you spiraled into addiction? oh, it i would say within
well, i ve had to sell my piano, which i really am going to miss it, but i just really need the money. i ve spent so much on rehab facilities. i mean, are you starting to sell other things? i m pretty much selling everything that s not nailed down, so [ laughter ] i ve had a piano since i was a little girl. i mean, in one way or another we ve always had a piano in our house growing up. it s the first time i haven t had one. private inpatient drug treatment can cost over $30,000 a month. kathy has spent almost $600,000 on both her and shannon s recovery. but it could be a lot worse. to our south in san pete county, ryan palmer has lost much more. and today, he s taking a big step. so, what are you doing today,