S Street Rising author Ruben Castaneda appears on Reliable Sources

In case you missed Ruben Castaneda’s interview about his new book, S Street Rising: Crack, Murder, Redemption in D.C.  with Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter on CNN, we wanted to share it with you. In addition to writing his first book, Castaneda pens a few stories for Baltimore Post-Examiner, especially when it has to with his love for The Boss – Bruce Springsteen or hatred of that Washington football team.

Castaneda, a former crime reporter for The Washington Post tells his story to Stelter of how he became addicted to crack cocaine as he covered the District of Columbia’s growing rate of drug crimes.

In the interview, Castaneda speaks about the comparison and contrast between his work life and his recreational life, “I compartmentalized my life as best I could. When I was at the “Post” and even when I was on my work shifts, and even when I wasn’t working, as a young night crime reporter, you’re always thinking about the job and calling people, making contacts. So I was very focused on doing as good as a job as I could. And I realized to myself that what I did during my off hours on my weekends, going out for a couple hours, getting drunk, making crack buys, using crack with these young women who traded sex for crack, was recreational.”

Reliable Sources airs Sundays, 11 a.m. to noon (ET).

Here’s the transcript provided by Reliable Sources:

STELTER: You write about first trying the drug while on assignment. Tell me how that happened.

CASTANEDA: Yes. This was in September 1988, when I working in Los Angeles for the “Herald Examiner.” I was in a pretty tough neighborhood on the western edge of downtown for an assignment, having to do with an immigration story. So I was out looking to interview Central American immigrants.

And a very attractive young lady, who was standing under an awning in front of a motel, smiled at me and kind of beckoned me. So I put my reporting on hold and crossed the street to flirt with her.

STELTER: And you sat at this point you already had a substance abuse problem, the substance being alcohol and that that went on for years as well.

CASTANEDA: Yes. I was at that point in my life, I was 27, I was already drinking heavily. And I had been for a couple of years.

STELTER: And at the “Post,” you were covering the crack epidemic. Tell me what happened in those years when you were both covering and using.

CASTANEDA: As I arrived in Washington in September 1989, and I really was determined to stop using, because I didn’t think it would be a good idea for a “Post” crime reporter to take the chance of being caught —

STELTER: No, I’d say not.

CASTANEDA: — holding or buying crack.

My pledge lasted about four days. I got drunk on a Saturday, went out to explore in my neighborhood and rather than being summoned by an attractive young lady this time, I picked up an attractive young lady, who I just sensed was a crack user. It turned out I was right. She directed me to F Street NW, and I developed a new routine, wherein I would give her the money and she would make the buys, to try to insulate myself.

STELTER: And a good portion of your book is about F Street and how it changed over the years. Tell me how a person is able to do both, how you are able to function as a reporter day to day.

CASTANEDA: Well, I compartmentalized my life as best I could. When I was at the “Post” and even when I was on my work shifts, and even when I wasn’t working, as a young night crime reporter, you’re always thinking about the job and calling people, making contacts. So I was very focused on doing as good a job as I could. And I realized to myself that what I did during my off hours on my weekends, going out for a couple hours, getting drunk, making crack buys, using crack with these young women who traded sex for crack, was recreational.

STELTER: Your editors started to get involved in 1991. And at one point, one of them took you to rehab, is that right?

CASTANEDA: That’s right. It was four days before Christmas 1991. Milton Coleman (ph), who at the time was the “Post’s” AME, assistant managing editor for the metro staff, the man who had hired me, he and an EAP counselor, an employee assistance program counselor, confronted me when I came in for my work shift. And they told me they’d made arrangements for me to go to the rehab unit at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.

Milton drove me in his black Toyota SUV. We made a quick stop at my apartment so that I could get a few things, change of clothes, toothbrush. And then he drove me to the Suburban Hospital.

STELTER: That is generous as I can imagine a boss being.

CASTANEDA: Yes. Milton — I’m convinced that my life would have been at risk if I had been left out on my own for another week or two. I was just using more and more and using at unpredictable times. At that point I was no longer just using on my weekends; I was using on days I was supposed to work, before work.

STELTER: So it affecting work?

CASTANEDA: Oh, yes. By — it’s a progressive condition. Addiction —

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: Do you think you ever betrayed your audience, then?

CASTANEDA: Only in the sense that by the summer of 1991, I began missing days of work. I probably called in sick more than a dozen times before I went to rehab. And then there were other nights where I came in for my shift where I wasn’t — where I was already impaired because I’d used drugs, crack and in some instances drank alcohol before I started my shift.

So there were some instances where I showed up for work and I wasn’t at my best. But I can’t say that I ever made an error or failed to cover a story because of my addiction.

STELTER: I know it’s awkward to ask, but I do wonder if the experience made you a better reporter in some way, you know, does it help a reporter when they have a life experience like the one you’re describing?

CASTANEDA: Well, assuming you survive it, I would say yes. I think that I have a much greater understanding of what happens in certain distressed city neighborhoods and streets than a typical reporter. I’m not saying that makes me a better journalist. But — than the others. But I think it certainly gives me insights that other people may not have.

STELTER: The book is titled, “S Street Rising.” Ruben, thanks for joining me.

CASTANEDA: Thanks for having me.