Steve Brown calls the night police arrested him for drunken driving "the greatest blessing God ever gave" him.

Being sent to drug court was "really a good thing" Adam Lutz tells people.

A nurse who was obtaining prescription drugs illegally said the day her employer turned her over to the cops was one of the best days of her life.

Even if it meant she had to go to jail where "you aren't allowed to wear your own underwear."

The audience laughed at the nurse's joke, but most of Wednesday night's public portion of the Sixth Annual Wyoming Methamphetamine and Substance Abuse Conference in Casper was serious and emotional, with even a few tears from panel and audience members alike.

Brown, Lutz and six other people shared their stories of addiction. Some were family members of addicts, including two husbands, while others were addicts themselves.

"I'm Bill and I'm an alcoholic," one of the panel members opened his speech with.

Most people will never attend an Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous meeting to hear someone say these difficult words, but Wednesday some Casper residents caught a glimpse of what it is truly like to live with addiction and thrive through recovery.

Dr. Bert Toews, medical director of Wyoming Recovery, moderated the panel and said the panel offered the audience "an incredible gift" by sharing their stories publicly.

"This helps put a human face, a real face, a positive face to what recovery is like," Toews said. "Part of recovery is talking about addiction and its effects on the family."

Brown, who just celebrated six years of sobriety, said he does not know why he started using drugs or drinking, but by the time he was 18 he disappeared from his family and he wanted to use drugs and drink every day.

In his early 20s, he thought he was living a normal life because he went to work every day. However, he would smoke marijuana before work, take a few shots of liquor during lunch and start drinking as soon as he returned home. He blacked out and passed out before 10 p.m., but always made it up for work in the morning, he said.

"It affects my social life. It affects my work life. It affects everything in my life negatively," Brown said.

When Brown was 25, he was arrested for drunken driving and had to go to group counseling. He began to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, which he said changed his life.

Brown's outlook on life is much more positive now that he is no longer using drugs or alcohol. He is married and expects the birth of his first child soon.

Even though all the panelists lived different lives and had different situations, they all shared common themes in addiction.

Like Brown, Lutz was grateful when the law stepped in and sent him to the Natrona County Drug Court, a type of "coerced treatment."

Since the six months since he entered the program, he has paid off some of his debt and signed up to take fire science classes at Casper College.

"It's helped me rebuild the relationships I didn't care about before," Lutz said. "I didn't know what I was missing."

As a foster parent for 33 years, Pat Hans sees the harm addiction can cause children and families.

She said it is not fair to the children and parents do not think about what their substance abuse might do to their children.

"They cry. They miss their family, their blanket, their favorite toy, their house, their friends," Hans said. "Addicts talk about losing their driver's licenses, their jobs, but children, they've had all these losses and they don't know why."

Plus, Hans said children can develop behavioral problems years down the road because of a family member's addiction.

Sometimes using "becomes something as necessary as breathing and blinking," Toews said. He talked about the genetics of addiction and how the view of addiction is changing among most in the medical community.

People are viewing it more as a chronic disease, such as cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes, that needs to be managed regularly.

Though there are some rough days, panel members said they live fulfilling, joyous lives in recovery.

The most important theme they share is hope.

Toews and recovering addicts said there are solutions to addiction, but a person just has to want to look for one. Toews said there are more than 50 Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings in Casper every week.

"Through a program you get to grow, get to not drink," Brown said. "You get to go out and live."

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com.