Episode
From Miami Coke to Ohio Heroin — How He Finally Got Clean | Ep 158
- Podcast
- Get a Grip Podcast
- Published
- Apr 29, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4455
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Summary
In this episode of Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Michael Larkin to unpack a story that starts in the heat and chaos of Miami and winds its way through addiction, consequences, and ultimately, recovery.Michael takes us back to his early years growing up in Miami, where experimenting started young—first with weed, then quickly escalating into harder substances. He shares what it was like walking into something as normal as an English class while high on cocaine, and how fast that lifestyle became normalized. What begins as curiosity turns into patterns, including getting caught with weed at school and already brushing up against consequences at a young age.One of the standout moments comes when Michael talks about being left alone while his family went on vacation—what should have been freedom quickly turned into something much darker. From there, his journey takes him from Miami to Ohio, where he’s introduced to the drug that would take hold of his life: heroin.Michael opens up about his first time using heroin, the grip it had on him, and the lifestyle that followed. He shares vivid stories from Miami during the early days of his addiction, including catching his first felony charges around the time the McGriddle first dropped—a detail that oddly timestamps one of the lowest points of his life. From fights and warrants to constant run-ins with the law, the chaos only intensified.But the deeper struggle came in the attempts to get clean. Michael speaks honestly about going to rehab not to get better, but still chasing a high. He describes the exhausting cycle of trying—and failing—to stay sober over a two-year stretch, and just how difficult it is to keep going back after relapse. The conversation dives into the mental battle of recovery…