Michael Douglas has spoken out about a years-long issue that’s been gnawing at him. Even though Michael was able to provide his son, Cameron, with a wonderful life, the boy still battled alcohol and drug addiction during his childhood and early adulthood. Because the Hollywood star’s son had everything he could ever want at his fingertips, he chose to use drugs and alcohol excessively – but things got out of hand quickly, and Michael thought he was going to lose Cameron to an overdose.

He decided that marijuana and alcohol were insufficient for him after he got used to them. While his pals were finishing college, he moved on from alcohol abuse and marijuana use to snorting cocaine and shooting heroin. By the age of twenty, he was hanging out with a bad crew, carrying weapons around just to be popular, so he could feel cool. His life came crashing down when he began using crystal methamphetamine.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Cameron looks back on his drug-fueled life of privilege and reveals how the addiction took over. Hating himself for what he was doing, Cameron couldn’t find a way to stop.

“I hated the wreckage I saw in my life, because of drugs, but I just couldn’t stop.”

Cameron’s parents, Michael Douglas and Diandra, a former model and movie producer, loathed seeing drugs wreck his chances for success.

Though his parents did everything they could think of, Cameron continued down the path of drug abuse. They tried numerous rehab programs and solutions, but he loved the chaos too much to give it up.

Michael Douglas, said to PEOPLE, “There were moments when hope dwindled… and then it’s just a train out of the station. Life became a series of crises. I thought I was going to lose him.”

In 2010, when Cameron was sentenced to five years in prison for a federal drug charge involving heroin possession, things got heated. Fortunately, Cameron’s father Michael Douglas has enough influence to help his son become sentenced to serve only half of the time he could have otherwise been imprisoned.

After being caught smuggling drugs into prison, his sentence was extended. However, he was freed in 2016 and is now enjoying a closer relationship with his father than before.

“In difficult times, we tend to come closer. It is a beautiful sort of trait that we have,” Camera stated. “My father and I have an amazing relationship. I love spending time with him, and I will spend as much time with him as I can.”

Cameron is committed to his sobriety and is raising his daughter with his girlfriend Viviane Thiebes. He also wants to relaunch his acting career and help other addicts get clean.