By Phillip Giltman - Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer

MARIETTA - According to Marvin Sutton, drugs have surrounded his son's entire life.

Marvin has had a drug problem for the last 32 years. He says his son's mom spends her time running around with crooks and criminals, getting high on a regular basis. His son's 20-year-old brother, Marvin says, has repeatedly violated his probation and is also feeding a drug addiction. Now, 17-year-old David Sutton, a former drug addict recovering in a Cobb County rehabilitation center, has been sober for the last six months and hopes to serve as an inspiration for the rest of his family. "A big thing in the recovery program is to take it one day at a time," David said. "Stay sober for one day at a time, and you can stay sober for the rest of your life." For the last 10 months, David has been living at the George W. Hartman Adolescent Treatment Facility in Marietta, recovering from a long history of drug addiction.

At the age of 11, when his mother first left him, David began selling marijuana at school. At the age of 15, he began smoking the substance everyday, eventually using heavier drugs, including the methamphetamine, crank.

"I was just trying to fit in with everybody because all my friends were doing it," he said, the same response as most first-time users. His dad, Marvin, 44, said he couldn't punish David for his actions because he knew what he was going through.

"I knew he was upset with his mom for not being around, and the pot he initially got caught with was probably mine," Marvin said. Both Marvin and David agreed that the Hartman Center has served as an instrumental stepping stone in helping David recover from his addiction. "It's hard to get help sometimes," said Marvin, a plumber, who is currently working two jobs. "If we had more places like the Hartman Center that kids can go to, we wouldn't have anywhere near the violence among our teenagers that we have today," he said.

Condemning teenager incarceration, Marvin said that counseling, education, treatment and family support - services the Hartman Center offers - help both the children and parents much more than holding the perpetrators behind bars.

"All drugs did for me was make me not care," said David, who intends to go back to high school and possibly join the armed forces once he graduates from the Hartman Center. "Now that I'm in here, instead of running from my problems, I can stand up and face my problems. I've grown more over the last 10 months than I have in my whole life." "My son has become a man," Marvin said. "He's grown up more than I can imagine."