He had experimented with drugs before this but when the couple's older son gave him an opiate his life turned to crime and violence to fuel a quickly growing addiction.
"That was where the experimental stage quickly turned into something that I had to have every day.
"I ended up with a habit costing me a couple of hundred dollars a day.
"The next few years of my life involved a lot of crime and a lot of dealing to pay for it."
His first conviction, at about 15, was for stealing two cars and burgling a watch factory for money for drugs.
"There was nothing I wouldn't do for a fix."
He first went on the methadone programme at 22 after sharing drugs with someone who overdosed in a bathroom next to him.
The woman lived but was found dead from an overdose by her 10-year-old son years later, he said.
The programme did not work for long because opiates no longer had the same effect so he started taking methamphetamine instead.
His use of various different drugs lasted from when he was 15 until three years ago, when he finally kicked the habit.
He has had numerous criminal convictions and is no longer able to see his wife and two children because of his behaviour during his addiction.
In 2014, he had lost his family, lost the will to live and finally went to treatment for the last time.
His recovery needs to be managed daily and was not fixed by an eight week treatment programme as once thought.
Mr Jenkins had seen other people in recovery who now had a better life and clung onto that hope for himself throughout his treatment.
"That kept me going.
"I didn't know about recovery, the people I knew either died or went to jail."
He now helps other addicts in various stages of recovery and would like anyone struggling to know that they should not be ashamed of their addiction and there are people out there who can help.
"I threw myself into that and surrounded myself with people in recovery which is awesome.
"I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams that I could have the life I have today.
"I spent years as a burden on society and feel a lot of guilt about that.
"I feel like I owe society and at times that's what keeps me going, helping people."
Mr Jenkins works with a number of groups to help addicts and is as an addiction peer support for Whatever It Takes (WIT).