Amber Portwood has been addicted to pills since she was 13

May, 18, 2012 | AUTHOR: Starcasm Staff; | Related : Amber Portwood, Teen Mom

This week a story came out that Amber Portwood wants to join the military to pay for college (she’s currently still working towards her GED,) and turn her life around. Her brother Shawn was excited about the idea, especially since the Army helped him pay for his own college.

Shawn told Reality Weekly magazine “I’m encouraging her 100 percent all the way. We have talked about her getting an education. But I told her to hold off on college and try to get into the military, which she wants to do anyway. Then, once her service is up, she will have her college paid for, like I do right now.”

Is this a realistic goal for the Teen Mom reality star?

Unfortunately for Amber, that plan has a major problem: her felony conviction.

Last year she was had a felony drug charge for possessing pills, which landed her in jail for several months (including over the holidays.) The military usually doesn’t accept applicants with felonies, but Shawn says they were working to get her charges reduced. However, last Friday Amber was arrested again for missing a mandatory drug court appointment. Amber has been required to attend these on a condition of her probation because of her addiction to prescription pills. Her attorney says she missed the appointment because of doctor prescribed bed rest after gall bladder surgery, but even so she’s been in jail for about a week (Amber’s expected to leave jail today.)

Shawn told Alltheteenmoms.com that her recent arrest has dashed her plans of joining the military to pay for school. “She can’t get in with a felony but she was going to try and get it reduced in the future. Now with her getting thrown in jail for no reason that is out of the question.”

In the Reality Weekly piece, Amber expressed her desire to stay clean and turn her life around, saying that being addicted to pills was all she had known since she was 13 years old.

I have been doing pills for eight years, since I was 13, and since then I have never been drug free. The pills were out of control: I want my life back. I want to get my family back.

Hopefully she can put the difficulties of her past behind her now and focus on the future.

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Jayla

RW piece?
- Starcasm Staff
  
  Reality Weekly piece quoted above.
Alexis

So did she basically admit she wasn’t drug free while pregnant with Leah? She said “never been drug free since then”
- Jeff
  
  Yeah, thats a big red flag over the authenticity of that statement. If leah was born addicted to drugs she would have had to stay in the hospital for weeks/months. Knowing ’16 and pregnant’ they would have made it a big deal on the show too.
  - Caroline
    
    If Amber was using prescription drugs Leah would not be born addicted. As I recall from past reports she abused pills like klonopin and pain pills. While it is ideal to use no prescription drugs during pregnancy, doctors do prescribe pills like lortab for short term use (like if you have gallbladder stones, kidney issues that can’t be taken care of till after delivery) and many women who have seizures take sedetaives like Klonopin but of course these women are being closey monitored and the babies are watched after birth. While it is good that Amber admits she has had an issue she should not make statements like this implying that she could have abused pills during pregnancy while trying to get her daughter back. I hope she can get straightened out but even if she gets a GED and a felony overturned it will be a hard path to the military.
    - Diana
      
      This is true. I had to have major dental surgery while 8 months pregnant with my youngest son, and I was prescribed Vicodin for pain. My son had no problems at birth. Granted I was only using them for a short period of time, as well as being under doctor supervision.
      
      Prescription pills can cause problems with pregnant women but, that isn’t an absolute.
      - Sherita
        
        I have a child myself and I thought u were not allowed to see the dentist while pregnant?
        
        Kelly
        
        Pregnant women can see a dentist, you just have to tell your dentist so they take proper precautions, such as shielding your belly from x-rays and such.
Gwyn

Amber is my favorite, she doesn’t get enough credit for putting up with Gary, and Jenelle is a lot worse than her.
- Kelly
  
  I would hardly call beating and humiliating him on tv “putting up with him”. Should he push her buttons? No, absolutely not, but that doesn’t give her a free pass to do the things she did.
  - Sherita
    
    Gary is no angel by far. I watched an unseen footage episode of Teen Mom and he purposely cancelled a visit with Leah so he can take a girl out on a date and even bragged to the girl and called Amber in front of her just to get under Ambers skin. Is she perfect? Hell no. Cause no matter what a man puts you through u have to press forward and take care of urself and ur child and that is something Amber has never been able to do. She is negative and full of anger and never tried to fully get help for the sake of her daughter. Gary is not to blame for her being addicted to pills, getting into fights in restaurants, and getting into arguements with ppl left and right. Amber needs to look in the mirror and wake the hell up.
Elle

She put up with him by punching him, screaming at him and trying to beat his ass on national TV. Yep, she did a wonderful job “putting up” with him. He’s no winner either, but ugh.

I doubt any branch of the military will take her. She’s all drama and all laziness, all the time.
ds

“Now with her getting thrown in jail for no reason that is out of the question”

Her brother is as stupid as she is if he thinks she was thrown in jail for “no reason”.
- Sherita
  
  In my opinion he brother cosigns alot of her bs and even lies to make her look better. I know thats his sister and he is trying to stick up for her but he is just as delusional as she is, always making excuses for why she is in the situations she’s in. Amber needed this cold dose of reality, sadly it seems like its not making a bit of difference. Im not goody two shoes but I certainly stay clear of breaking laws and causing conflicts wherever I go, especially with having a child to think about. Amber only thinks about Amber and that is her biggest problem. Its always someone elses fault for why she does the things she does.
Kelly

I sincerely hope that she can kick the habit and straighten her life out.
blueblueblue

Hahahaha. Apparently she doesn’t realize that the military is down-sizing. Like they would take a drug addict like her?
Dianna

i cant believe she actually thought she would get into the military. her charges shouldn’t be reduced. this is what happens when you do stupid things. opportunities start disappearing.
Tracie

hahaha the military won’t take her with her record!!!
Jenna

Not only are her charges affecting her, but they wont take you if you have any mental problems. Isn’t she bi-polar, and suffers from depression, and anxiety and takes medicine to control these? And, the suicide attempt, that is an automatic DQ as well.
- Sherita
  
  WOw I never even considered her mental illness. Yea she is not getting in.
- Tay Tay
  
  No they won’t allow her because of her mental problems in the past. A friend of mine wanted to go to the military and he passed all of the tests but they wouldn’t accept him cause when he was 8 a doctor suggested he be put on anti-depresents. He was perscribed them but his parents never got the perscription filled. There is no way they will accept her.
Jessica

What I get from this article is that Gary is the idiot. There’s no way he didn’t know she was addicted to pills. In fact, since he was/is a CNA, he was probably able to easily steal pills for her habit (very common thing, not saying all CNA’s do it, but many do). But the fact that he created a child with an addict is disgusting. He should have been more responsible.
- Kelly
  
  Having lived with an addict before myself, I have to say that it is not that simple. Most addicts are talented liars, so it’s very plausible that he did not have knowledge of her addiction. Its not really fair to accuse him of stealing pills for her. Just because he had the opportunity doesn’t mean he would do it.
Courtney

She needs to get real with herself…she is 21 and has not finished high school or an equivalent….I understand a new child is a lot for a teen, but its done everyday by young parents…the people in her life need to really let her hit rock bottom and get herself out of jail and her predicament until then she’s just gonna stay in this vicious circle
amelia

Oh come on now..if this wasn’t a grasp at a story for Amber to stay in the press…This chick can’t even get her GED, stay out of jail or rehab, let alone take care of her daughter…Yet, we are lead to believe that she was expecting to get into the US Military and THEN go to college??? Please….
Sam

Is she stupid? She announced nationally that she is addicted to drugs.

Also, the military isn’t taking any GED holders now. You have to be graduated from High School.