Getting addicted to drugs is unfortunately much easier than you
might think. Most people won’t realise they are addicted until it’s
too late. There is a lot of information around saying that cannabis
is a gateway drug. Some people agree, most disagree; see what you
think…
Julie first used drugs when she was 13. It was only cannabis; no
one ever gets any problems with cannabis. Do they?
By the time she was 16, she had moved onto speed and was only
doing it recreationally, once or twice a week. As time went by she
started using speed more frequently until it became a daily
occurrence.
When she turned 21 she started to use cocaine. Again, it was
only recreational on Friday and Saturday nights. However, it very
quickly started to take control of her week and she soon began
taking it on a Thursday and Sunday night as well as Friday and
Saturday. She was soon finding it difficult to get up for
work and even making excuses not to go in. After a short while, she
was sacked from her job.
Julie started going out with Ashley (who was also using
cocaine). The 2 of them together continued to use cocaine more
frequently until they were both addicted. At this point, to help
pay for their habit, Ashley started selling drugs.
Julie wanted to get help for their addictions but this thought
soon disappeared once Ashley started buying in new drugs and they
began using more and more different drugs like MDMA. Whilst all of
this was going on, Julie became pregnant, yet still carried on
using drugs.
Julie had her baby, and at this point decided to try and break
free of the drug circle. She left Ashley, but soon moved back in
with him. This time their child was not with them and was taken
into care.
During their period of separation, Ashley managed to accumulate
thousands of pounds of drug debts. Ashley and Julie were
continuously threatened and attacked to make them pay up. One night
Julie came home and found that some other drug dealers had broken
into her house to look for Ashley, who happened to be upstairs at
the time and had jumped out of the top floor window to escape.
Julie later found Ashley in hospital with broken legs as a
result.
After this Ashley moved abroad and was never heard of again.
Julie moved in with another friend of hers, Sam. Within a few
weeks they were both taking crack cocaine and Julie found herself
getting even more addicted. They moved in with some heroin addicts
and here Julie smoked heroin.
In desperation to get money for drugs, Sam had carried out an
armed robbery, managing to steal £300. In return, he got a 6 year
prison sentence. Realising enough was enough Julie decided to leave
everything behind and ask her family for help. She eventually got
the proper help she needed and things were on the up for her. She
moved in with a respectable boyfriend, her family were supporting
her and she was getting in touch with old friends. She also
received the right medical support in order to beat her addiction
and now seems a completely different person for it.
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What finally made you stop taking drugs?
I got very drunk one night and a guy in a pub said the wrong
thing to me, so I glassed him in the face. I ended up spending 4
months in prison for ABH (actual bodily harm). Whilst I was inside,
I learnt a few valuable life lessons and decided that a life of
drugs wasn’t the life for me. I was also able to get away from all
the ‘friends’ I took drugs with, which really helped.
You talk about so-called drug 'friends'; what are these?
These are the people who you consider to be your friends, as you
spend a lot of time with them. Once you are clean from drugs you
soon realise that those people who you thought were friends were
only intent on getting their next hit and couldn’t care less about
you. Real friends are the ones who support you through your
treatment process and are there afterwards to support you on the
road to recovery.
What advice would you give to someone who’s in your
situation?
In order to stop taking drugs completely and rebuild your
life, you have got to want to. I spent time on drug treatment
plans, fobbing them off and cancelling appointments all because I
didn’t have to give up taking drugs.
Some people see drugs addicts as people who have failed at life
and have no qualifications. What would your response be to
that?
A lot of people like to find an excuse to take drugs, whether
that is someone who is homeless and needs to get away from it all,
or a top businessman who needs to let their hair down or even a
footballer earning thousands of pounds a month. I once scored
heroin with someone who is studying at university.
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What crimes do drugs cause?
There are all sorts, ranging from stealing to pay for your
habit, to dealers assaulting, raping and even killing those who get
in their way or cause them problems. Up until my twenties, besides
the drug use, I had never committed a crime. Once I was addicted to
the drugs I had to steal to feed my habit, which landed me in
trouble with the police and got me my criminal record.
Did you ever overdose or know anyone who overdosed?
I once took ketamine and my whole body went absolutely numb. I
couldn’t move; I couldn’t speak. It was one of the worst
experiences of my life. Someone else I knew injected himself with
heroin and it soon became apparent that he had overdosed but all of
the people he was with left him. He unfortunately died as a
result.
I also met a young woman in prison who was a heroin addict. She
was really optimistic that when she left prison she was going to
turn her life around and make a fresh start. Sadly, shortly after
being released from prison she was found dead of a heroin overdose
in her bathtub. She was 25 and had a young baby.
When your boyfriend was dealing from your house, did the police
ever find out?
Yes, a few times. I remember I used to come back home some days
and find that they had raided the house during the day. I would go
in and everything would be all over the place; the wardrobes turned
over and the cot upside down. I was at home once when they raided
the house. I was sitting there in my lounge watching TV and
suddenly I heard a huge bang and the door came caving in. It was a
really frightening experience.
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I imagine you’re not the biggest fan of the police then?
On the contrary, I think they do a brilliant job. In general, if
it wasn’t for the police our streets and communities would be in a
much worse state than they are now. In my experience, even though I
was breaking the law using drugs, the police would still take an
active interest in my welfare, checking up on me and contacting my
parents saying that they were worried for me.
When you and your boyfriend were dealing drugs, what did you do
to make more money?
Absolutely anything and everything! When we were cutting we
would put in anything white that could be crushed. We would put in
antihistamines, paracetamol, cleaning detergent and even some of my
contraception pills. My boyfriend once gave someone a line of coke
made up mostly of washing powder.
If someone is offered drugs, what should they say if they don’t
want to do them?
It depends on the situation and person. Initially, say no and be
firm. If you don’t want to then you don’t have to. You can also
make an excuse, maybe that you are about to meet your mum or meet
your boyfriend. You can also lie; tell them that the last time you
took it that it was disgusting and you didn’t like it. Or even say
no, because when somebody you know took it, it made them really
ill......and if you don’t know someone, make it up!
If someone is reading this and is thinking about taking drugs,
what would you say to them?
You may think it’s harmless, but how do you think all drug
addictions start? Do you think I wanted to be addicted? Also, you
really have no idea what the drugs contain - take that from me
as someone who used to add all sorts of stuff to it! Something else
to consider is that you have no idea how your body is
going to react. I have seen people overdose on a single E pill, and
I overdosed on ketamine and it was only a small amount.
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If someone does overdose, what should you do?
Always call 999. It can really be a matter of life and death.
Don’t have letting someone die unnecessarily on your
conscience.
What are drug dealers really like?
They are very horrible pieces of work. This was demonstrated
when my boyfriend owed them money. They used to ring me up
threatening to hurt me, telling me “we want our £2,000 by tonight
or we will be over.” That was obviously very traumatic, and when I
used to see my boyfriend snorting our only source of income, it
made it even worse. This same gang used to throw bricks through my
windows and vandalise our property, which was horrible bearing in
mind we had a child indoors.
We were once at a club and the dealers were there. They had an
argument with my boyfriend and we left. As we went to the car they
came out and stabbed him.
My boyfriend went to another drug dealer's flat and there were 2
of them in there. The drug dealers he owed money to went round,
beat the living daylights out of him and then poured petrol all
over him, all because he owed them money and they wanted
it back. They used to give him about £2,000 worth of drugs each
week to sell for them. Because we were addicted, we would use up
some of this and the dealers would keep giving us more and more
drugs to sell which they added interest to, so the money we owed
kept rocketing.
One of our ‘friends’ called Ryan owed money to another gang, so
this gang found one of Ryan’s friends, who happened to have nothing
to do with the debt, and kept him tied up as a hostage for a week.
Every so often the friend would be made to call Ryan telling him to
give them the money. At the end of that week, the friend was
released but he was in a right state; it turned out one of the
things they did to him was to set dogs on him.
Another young woman heroin addict I knew owed money to another
gang of drug dealers. They drove her up to the woods and made her
have sex with each of them in order to pay them back for the
drugs.
How important are your family and friends when you are using
drugs?
They are the most valuable thing you can have. Without their
support I wouldn’t have been able to do it. It really helps when
they have a positive attitude and encourage you rather than telling
you that you will never recover.
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