Mewes grew up in Highlands, New Jersey, living with his mother, a heroin addict, who died of AIDS in 2002. He never met his father. He himself started using heroin in his early 20s, and remained addicted for the next decade.

Smith entered Mewes into the first of a series of drug rehabilitation clinics in 1997, after noticing Mewes was nodding off during the filming of Chasing Amy. Mewes' attempt at sobriety was short-lived, however; in 1999, he was arrested for possession of heroin and a syringe,in violation of his probation.

He also stole Smith's ATM card and charged $1,100, and had heroin shipped to the hotel where the press junket for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was being held. Smith had taken Mewes in
to live with him and his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, but kicked him out after he was caught using again. In another attempt to get clean, Mewes moved in with his mother, who gave him OxyContin to ease the withdrawal symptoms; Mewes was soon addicted to that substance as well.

In 2003, he made another attempt at sobriety, this time successful; to date, he has remained sober.

© Sewem Nosaj - forevermore