Jimmy was raised by an alcoholic father but is now a heroin addict. At 13, he was in a gang which abused drugs. Jimmy also has a son and has tried getting sober in the past, but the pressure from his family in this instance lead to dependence on methadone. Jimmy's mother Joannie is also a methadone addict due to her originally getting on it for lupus treatment. Joannie is also alcoholic and enables her son by paying for his bills and his medicine and also giving Jimmy her own methadone.