The Residential Drug and Alcohol Program, established by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, is the next step in my journey through prison. Referred to as “The Year Off Program” by inmates all over the BOP, this is the only educational offering that offers inmates any actual time relief. Despite the fact that I’m in prison for a non-violent cannabis-only charge with no criminal history of violence or any felonies on my record, I’m ineligible for the year off because of a legally owned and properly stored firearm. However, because I’ve lost four months of good time credit due to prison disciplinary sanctions, I’ll be taking the program to earn maximum halfway house. After doing this program, I should be back to society in October of next year rather than September of 2023. Even though halfway house is far from being free, it gives me the opportunity to be a part of my daughter’s life again. I can’t miss her any longer.

On the surface, this decision seems easy—take a nine-month class on drugs and get out of prison early—but the problem lies in who I am as a person and what I believe. This program is abstinence-based, which I completely disagree with. I don’t believe the solution to most people’s addiction issues lies in living a “clean” and sober life. The biggest issue I have is the way the program requires people to tell on others. From telling the entire class about someone not washing their hands while using the bathroom to telling about drug use or other prohibited behaviors, this goes against everything I believe in. The program enforces military-like protocol with curfews and times we’re required to be awake. They watch our messages, listen to our phone calls, and make judgments based on the program’s version of morality. There is no Store Man to buy honey buns from, cell phones to rent by the hour, alcohol to drink on the weekend, or weed to smoke. No more prison fun for me at all.

I’m about to change my life. From the moment I enter that program, I’ll be drug tested regularly for the next five years. I’ll get out of prison, go to halfway house, then home confinement, and then be on probation for years. I have to restart my life with a felony on my record and the federal authorities breathing down my neck. I have to build from less than nothing into something great.

I’ll spend the next nine months focusing on the person I’ll be when I get out of prison. I’m going to work out daily and come back to society in the best shape of my life. I’m going to write, write, and write even more. I’ll use this time to create a content base of writing that is unparalleled for prison. I’m going to become the most perfect version of myself.

I thank you all for reading what I have to say and for supporting me along this journey. I’ll still be posting online due to the help of a wonderful team of people who help publish everything I write. It’s incredible to have so many people who believe in me and what I put on paper. I love you all, and sooner rather than later, I’ll be back to change the world.