Austin Yarbrough tried marijuana at 10.

By age 15, he had moved on to prescription pills, which later led to methamphetamine and heroin abuse.

After more than a decade of being strung out on drugs, the now-21-year-old is on the path to recovery.

He’s in his last two months of a six-month program at Opp’s Crossover Ministry, the county’s faith-based recovery ministry.

Yarbrough said he feels great and said God has blessed him a lot.

His addiction abuse began early.

“From the time I was 10, I started smoking weed,” he said. “At, 15, I started pills – mainly Xanax and roxys.”

Xanax is a benzodiazepine, which works by slowing down the movement of chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced. It is used to treat anxiety disorders and more.

Roxys – short for roxycodone is a narcotic pain reliever.

Yarbrough said he would eat 20 Xanax bars and 10 roxys at a time.

“I couldn’t get out of bed without them,” he said.

To counter the withdrawals, he turned to meth to make him feel better.

A new girlfriend turned him on to shooting up.

“I started dating this girl, and I did heroin with her,” he said. “She shot me up.”

There, Yarbrough learned he could shoot meth, as well.

His addiction led to a dark path.

“I’ve been homeless twice and in and out of jail,” he said.

Facing manufacturing charges in Coffee County, Yarbrough knew he needed to make a change.

From the Coffee County jail, Yarbrough wrote a letter to Crossover asking for help and he talked to J.C. Patton.

“The next day, I got my acceptance letter,” he said.

Yarbrough said through Crossover Ministry, God has changed his life and helped him turn it around.

Yarbrough said he grew up in a Christian family.

“I had read the Bible some,” he said. “But, I didn’t really read it as much as I do now. I didn’t know as much about God as I do now.”

Yarbrough said prescription pill addiction was the hardest drug to defeat.

He is currently exploring his options for employment after graduation.