I Started Shooting Heroin as a Teen | Robbing a Bank High on PCP, Prison and Getting Sober

Rise Above with Kevin Lanning · Aug 5, 2026 · 2h 31m

Matt Handy was the oldest of ten kids, raised in a strict religious home in San Diego — and living a double life almost from the start. He smoked weed at 13 the night his youngest sibling was born, tried crack within a month, and was shooting heroin by 17. A felony arrest in high school slammed the door on his plan to become a lawyer, and from there his life accelerated into a world most people only see in movies.

He ran a nationwide retail-theft ring that took him through 38 states in 11 months, got involved in gang life, and cycled in and out of prison. It culminated the day after Christmas…