Charles “Tyke” Peacock was expected to bring home the gold medal in 1984. What he did instead was fake an injury so that he could avoid the Olympic trials and keep his drug addiction under wraps. Now it’s 27 years later and the cat is most definitely out of the bag. Peacock has been arrested for burglary. Will he get six years in prison for his crime or will he get 12 months in a drug rehabilitation facility?  It’s up the judge.

Says Peacock: “I need rehabilitation, not incarceration.”

Early Athletic Achievement and Early Drug Abuse

It was in high school that Peacock first began to impress people with his athletic ability, but it’s also where he began to abuse drugs and alcohol. Peacock says, “I used recreational drugs in high school, you know, pot smoking, a few beers, never knowing where that was going to lead me.”

It’s a huge warning for teens and parents who believe that casual or occasional drug and alcohol abuse during the teen years is nothing to worry about.

Peacock managed to hold it together well enough to remain functional athletically through his early 20s. He graduated from high school and went to Modesto Junior College in California where he was on the track team from 1980 to 1981. He took a full-ride basketball scholarship at the University of Kansas for the 1982-83 season, but transferred the following season to Fresno State University in California. It was in Kansas that Peacock said his occasional drug and alcohol abuse developed into an addiction that he couldn’t control.

Athletic Prowess Overshadowed by Drug Addiction

He had a reputation as one of the best high jumpers in the world. He won the high jump in 1981 at the World Cup in Rome and a silver medal in the event at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Then it was time to try out for the 1984 Olympics.

Says Peacock: “I was blessed with this just my drive to win, so to speak, was really off the charts. The talent itself was really a blessing. It was a God-given talent. Leading up to the Olympic year (1984), I was ranked the No. 1 high jumper in the world. But no one knew that I was using drugs, I mean, no one outside my little circle of friends.”

It wasn’t just his Olympic dreams that were dashed as a result of his drug addiction – Peacock had a shot at the NBA as well. In 1983, he met the coach of the Houston Rockets and was promised a tryout in 1984. Peacock says: “My addiction had took off. It was full blown by then. Needless to say, I never made it back that year to try out with the team.”

A History of Crime to Support Drug Addiction

When Peacock was making more and more money due to his athletic success, it only fueled his drug addiction. When that income went away, Peacock had to get the money for drugs somewhere; he turned to crime. Over the years, he’s had a long list of arrests and spent time in prison twice.

He says: “Any time I’ve ever been in trouble, it was for taking something that didn’t belong to me to support my drug habit. I stole things to support my habit.”

Get Help for Drug Addiction

Before you end up in front of a judge for crimes done for no other reason than the support of drug addiction,  get the help you need to recover. Contact us at The Canyon today for more information about our program. We can help.

Tags: charles peacock, Cocaine Addiction, cocaine addiction treatment, cocaine rehab, Drug Addiction, drug-rehab

   

About Valeria W.

       

Valeria W. likes to consider herself "an encyclopedia" of addiction and rehab knowledge. Valeria lives to hear from people who have been positively influenced by her work - and sought out drug or alcohol rehab help as a result of the information she has provided.

Also written by: Valeria W.