You're under the influence of a substance, you're not really being you.' 'I felt like I could be who I was,' he said. He told me that taking the drug gave him more than just a feeling of invincibility it also made him feel an acceptance that he'd been longing for his entire life. Now 48, Zacharias grew up gay and closeted in rural Kentucky in the 1970s and '80s. For me, meth made me feel like I was Superman, and I could do anything. 'There is no drug that is more intense in what it does physiologically to the body than meth. 'The first time I did it, I knew that there was an instantaneous hook,' he told me. What had changed? Zacharias had started using crystal meth. Yet three years later, he was unemployed and homeless, spending all of his time in and out of local jails. He had a steady boyfriend and a good job at Universal Music in Chicago. He'd graduated from school with a degree in marketing. When he was 30 years old, Jeffrey Zacharias led a life that could be described as enviable.
