Danny Bonaduce Discusses Drug and Alcohol Abuse
WHITFIELD: All right. Remember just moments ago we talked to two U.S. military brothers and their fears of deportation? We now have a statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, regarding Manuel and Belante (ph) Valenzuela, and their fear that this deportation may indeed happen, to Mexico. The statement says, "ICE offered to file a joint motion to administratively close the case for both brothers on January 31, 2012. We are very deliberate in our review of cases involving veterans. Any action taken by ICE that may result in the removal of an alien with military service must be authorized by the senior leadership in a field office following an evaluation by local counsel. ICE exercises prosecutorial discretion for members of the armed forces who have honorably served our country on a case-by-case basic when appropriate. Director Morton's June 2011 memo on prosecutorial discretion specifically identifies service in the U.S. military as a positive factor that should be considered when deciding whether or not prosecutorial discretion should be exercised." That statement is just now coming in.</s>WHITFIELD: Who could forget the 1970s TV show "The Partridge Family"? We know that red-headed boy, Danny Bonaduce, very famous. But unlike many child stars, his career did not end with a one-hit show. He had several movies and TV appearances. But not long after, the big long-term roles stopped coming and Bonaduce turned to drugs for comfort. When he hit rock bottom, he was battling addictions to both drugs and alcohol. Danny Bonaduce made his way back into the spotlight in the reality TV, VH1's "Breaking Bonaduce," and currently has a radio show in Seattle. And Danny Bonaduce joining us right now, live, to share his personal journey, from addiction to recovery. Danny, good to see you. I know it's one day at a time but I understand you are celebrating sobriety for 13 months, is that right?</s>DANNY BONADUCE, ACTOR & RADIO SHOW HOST: 13 months. It's so funny because I've kept this to myself because I've been trying to get sober for at least 20 years, and I've never had a year before. They have these birthdays and cakes and celebrations when you get a year. In 20 years, I'm trying to get sober, I've never had a year, and I finally -- I had a year last month. I am now celebrating 13 months.</s>BONADUCE: If you call it a celebration, I'd really like a drink, so it's not that great of a celebration.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, so what is it that makes it, A, difficult to stay on that road to recovery. Once you're on it, there are constant temptations. What happens in that moment where you find, it is one day, one month at a time?</s>BONADUCE: Well, I will tell you this from past experience. Because there are very few things, to be honest with you, that people -- that people of rehab and therapists, there are very few things that they actually get right. For the most part, they are incredibly wrong. They should almost be sued for fraud.</s>WHITFIELD: What do you mean?</s>BONADUCE: They just don't -- well, first of all, I am not a big believer -- I have been told to my face that alcoholism is a disease, a progressive disease, a terminal disease just like cancer. Well, I just recently did a tour of the children's wing of the Philadelphia Hospital that as the unfortunate acronym of CHOP, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, in the cancer ward. Man, when went in there and I saw an 11-year-old with no hair and dark circles under their eyes, at no point did I feel like saying, hey, I know how you feel. I don't believe it's a disease just like cancer. People that say that should be ashamed of themselves.</s>WHITFIELD: OK, because you say drugs did not choose you. You choose drugs and alcohol at a very low point in your life. And did that low point, in large part, come because you weren't getting the long-term television roles and that was really damaging to yourself esteem, and so you turned to these methods of comfort? Did I get that right?</s>BONADUCE: No. I turned to drugs because -- people get it backwards and it's nobody's fault. It's the way I would think if I didn't live it. People think I made a fortune on "The Partridge Family." "The Partridge Family" sold 28 million albums. "American Idol" on the night they do their finale gets 26 million viewers. "The Partridge Family" got 40 million viewers very Friday night. The fact is, I made $400 a week and only for 26 weeks a year. I never had any money. I didn't start getting high until I was in my 20s. And I just came home one day and a Los Angeles county sheriff was putting a padlock on my door and I was homeless. And I thought, well, I've got to do something with my time, so I -- I don't make the expression "turn to drugs." The people that I was with were doing drugs so I did the things that the people I was hanging out with did drugs, and the next thing I know, I was addicted and couldn't stop doing them.</s>WHITFIELD: But weren't there moments, I guess during that hanging with others or experimentation where you were saying, I'm jeopardizing everything, I may not work again or I may not be able to afford this. If they are putting a padlock on my house, how am I going to be able to afford this if I get hooked? Any of that stuff comes to mind at that moment?</s>BONADUCE: All the time. All the time. People ask me, what was your rock bottom? I say, pick. Let's see, I woke up in a jail cell in Phoenix, Arizona, chained to a transvestite covered in blood and I couldn't tell whose blood it was. I woke up in a phone booth in Hollywood Boulevard one time. You know that song you played when you introduced me? "I Woke Up in Love this Morning"?</s>WHITFIELD: Yes.</s>BONADUCE: I just wondered where the heck I woke up this morning all the time. I don't even have a particularly good rock bottom. I've only been sober 13 months.</s>WHITFIELD: So when you were at that bottom, one of the many bottoms, then, was there ever a moment where you said, you know what, I'm kind of tired in this. I don't want to be like this. And like a light switch, you make a decision and say, I don't want to be like this any more? It's just not that easy?</s>BONADUCE: That's always the way it is. Unfortunately, it's not that easy. What happens is you recover. Either you go to rehab, because you're going to go to jail -- that's why everybody goes to rehab. Not everyone. I don't want -- by the way, let me tell you this. If you think A.A. will help you or rehab will help you, please go. Don't do anything that will stop you from -- if you think you can help yourself, please do. I am not an expert on any of these things. I know what works for me. Would you like to know how I got 13 months not drinking?</s>WHITFIELD: Yes.</s>BONADUCE: It's called antabuse. It's a pill. It turns alcohol into poison. There you go.</s>WHITFIELD: Danny! --</s>BONADUCE: If I take a drink right now, I'll die.</s>WHITFIELD: So what is that? Are you telling me that --</s>BONADUCE: It's antabuse. Look it up on the Internet. Look it up on the Internet. It turns alcohol into formaldehyde. It will kill you.</s>WHITFIELD: So for a lot of people who are struggling --</s>BONADUCE: I don't sit around with a bunch of people whining that their mothers didn't love them and their daddies didn't hug them, and I can't get a job and girls don't like me. So what? There's cures, man. How about if you're hooked on heroin and oxycontin? Take suboxone. It blocks the receptors. You won't get high anymore. There's way out. Stop being such a baby. There are all of these people that say, my mommy doesn't love me enough, my daddy doesn't hug me enough. There are some people that would want to coddle them somewhere. I want them to shut up and stop whining.</s>WHITFIELD: And you're saying it begins and ends with self, and it has nothing to do with who might be able to help intervene or what?</s>BONADUCE: OK. I was married for 18 years to a woman who wanted me to get sober for all 18 years and I never did. She finally came to her senses and divorced me. I was married to another woman for about three weeks when I got drunk and said something unpleasant and she said, I don't know who you think you're talking to, but I'm a school teacher. I have a skill. I don't need anything you have. And she walked out the door. And I said, wait, this pill I've heard about called antabuse. And she said, if you let me help you take it every day like a child, then I'll come back. I agreed to those terms and I've been sober 13 months. Stop your whining. Go to your meetings. They're wonderful. I've been to some wonderful -- some of the most interesting people I've ever met I've met at A.A. meetings. But I tell you this, I stopped drinking because I took medication that will either make you go to the emergency room or die if you drink on it.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, Danny Bonaduce, I'm glad it's 13 months and counting. I won't say congratulations because you said not to say congratulations. And I appreciate your time very much.</s>BONADUCE: Thank you very much. And we really appreciate the time. I really do. I appreciate the time very much</s>WHITFIELD: Thank you. And we really appreciate your honesty. Danny Bonaduce, it's great to see you. Coming up next, we have a pretty amazing story about a dog that defied all the odds. And despite the unimaginable cruelty that he faced, he's not only a survivor but a real champ. His name is Andre, and we're going to tell you all about Andre next.