David Douglas, information technology and administrative management (ITAM) lecturer, drinks tea instead of coffee and keeps a sun lamp handy to stay positive in the drear of winter. He said he chose tea because even caffeine has the risk of becoming addictive.

Just 10 years ago, David Douglas would more likely be found smoking meth than preparing lesson plans.

As a recovering addict, David Douglas’ past with substance abuse has affected every facet of his life. Following the tragic loss of his stepfather, Jonny Rivell, to cancer, David Douglas spiraled out of control at the age of 12. He started abusing drugs and alcohol regularly, eventually dropping out of high school at 16.

“I went from being a straight A student and, you know, focused in school, to just going in a completely different direction,” David Douglas said. “By the end of my, I think, ninth year of school my grade point average was next to nothing and I dropped out.”

David Douglas finished his GED in 1985 as a requirement to join the military, the same year he would have graduated high school. At age 17, he enlisted in the Marines, where he served three years of active duty in Germany and two years in the reserves stateside before being honorably discharged in 1990.

That year, he had a son named Tyler Douglas, whose trajectory with drug problems looked similar to his father’s. As a teenager, Tyler Douglas struggled with addiction as his strained relationship with his parents caused him to descend towards a path of drug abuse.

“Growing up was good until my last year of middle school,” Tyler Douglas said. “I started messing around with pot and other drugs and it escalated pretty quickly.”

Tyler Douglas said he knew at a young age that his father was an addict. He said he remembers vividly the day he realized the man he looked up to had a problem.

“I heard from my mom, actually. I remember her talking on the phone with him, cause he was drunk and he was trying to go to the west side,” Tyler Douglas said. “He was drunk and he was driving. He ended up calling me and talking about it.”

He said his relationship with his father was healthy when he was clean. If Tyler Douglas was using, his dad would give him space – to distance himself from temptation, perhaps, or to just show his son that the first step to getting clean was helping yourself.

“He definitely made it easy for me to know where to go to get clean,” Tyler Douglas said. “I’ve tried getting clean several times. When I was using he wasn’t there, he wasn’t helping me with anything I was asking for. But as soon as I got clean he was right there helping me.”

In 2005, when Tyler Douglas was 16, his dad relapsed and eventually, David Douglas and his son started using together. The two would often go out together, in search of the next high.

“So we both were kind of hanging out together, not necessarily as father and son but more as using buddies,” Tyler Douglas said. “We used everything except for heroine – weed, coke, meth, crack, you name it. It kind of just escalated. Went from smoking pot to him picking me up from my mom’s to go score somewhere. That lasted for about four or five months.”

David Douglas said that in some demented way, he and his son using together brought them closer.

“Mine and his relationship at the time was pretty strained,” David Douglas said. “Primarily, you know, just normal teenager type of stuff. I was pretty hard lined and I wouldn’t accept any of his behaviors. When I made the decision to drink a lot of those standards went out the window. When I look back at it now, obviously it was a very poor decision. In some sense it opened up our relationship as far as we started hanging out again.”

Aside from being obviously wrong, he said the negative in using with his son was being more of a friend than a parent. When David Douglas went back into sobriety, his son didn’t want to follow. After years of struggling with addiction since then, however, Tyler Douglas has started to make steps in the right direction to staying sober.

Today, Tyler Douglas is a student at Yakima Valley College, well on his way to completing his associate of art’s degree with plans to transfer to Central. He now has a son, named Anthony Jayden Douglas. Jayden is his grandfather’s middle name.

“My dad pressured me to go to back to school,” Tyler Douglas said. “Every time I got clean I would half ass going back to school. I wouldn’t try; instead I would go get loaded again. Last time around I got tired of living the life I was living. He got me the tools I needed to help me stay clean.”

After becoming clean again in 2005, David Douglas has made major strides in turning his life around. As a Central alumnus, he received his undergraduate degree in family studies in 2011 and his master’s in family studies in 2012. He has been a lecturer at Central ever since.

David Douglas said his favorite part of teaching is the basic one-on-one time he has with his students. Whether it’s interacting with them in the classroom or teaching them online, David Douglas’ greatest high now comes from students growing and learning.

In 2012, David Douglas founded his own private business, Communication Pathways. He said the focus of Communication Pathways is helping individuals and families overcome communication barriers. This was an easy transition, as he has spent several years as a family and drug counselor.

“I give what I call ‘communication education,’” David Douglas said. “Part of my master’s program is I’m a certified family life educator. I give communication education to individuals, couples and families.”

In a recent partnership with Doug Fulp, health educator at Central’s Wellness Center, the pair have been working to bring the film “The Anonymous People” to screen at Central this March.

“‘Anonymous People’ is about the idea of branching out and spreading awareness a little bit more,” Fulp said. ”This is why David is so closely connected to it because it is how he has treated his own story and his journey. It’s not the idea of trying to eliminate 12 step programs or the anonymity piece, but it’s the idea for the people who don’t want to remain anonymous, who want to bring more awareness to the issue.”

Fulp said their partnership formed after David Douglas had the idea of screening the movie for Central students. He said David Douglas told him it was significant for them to understand the importance of talking openly about addiction. After watching the trailer, he was immediately on board.

For David Douglas, the most important part of recovering from addiction is having the ability to hold open and honest conversations about recovery. He said his focus and energy are all spent on what’s happening now and what’s possible in the future. He also said he isn’t embarrassed or scared to share his story with anyone, and usually shares his story at the end of each quarter in his classes.

“Certainly I like to reflect on my past, it’s important, but I don’t want to stay there,” David Douglas said. “I quit saying ‘I’m an addict or I’m an alcoholic.’ What I say is, ‘I’m a person in long-term recovery.’”