You know, it really sounds completely implausible and like the most incredible lie an addict could come up with.
So maybe there's some cosmic irony in that, after all the lying he has done, the world actually behaves exactly as it has in his lies… and he gets caught in the web.
I hope this is a turnaround point. I've seen addicts change their drug of choice and call it sobriety because they've quit one drug but never addressed the underlying behavior.