‘Ismokeddopeat10 and was on heroin by 16 – I thought I was cool... but it’s no life’
OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY GLASGOW ADDICT TALKS ABOUT HIS DRUGS BATTLE
WANT a life again, I want to be normal like you,” confessed a man who has battled with alcohol and drug addiction since the age of 10.
Now 41, the Glaswegian, whose anonymity we are protecting, admitted that he has had every addiction you can think of.
It began with smoking cannabis at the age of 10 to taking heroin at 16.
“It’s no life,” the man continues during the meeting which is part of Turning Point’s Abstinence Project.
A sense of normality might seem simple enough for most of us to achieve but for the majority of those addicted to alcohol and drugs, it is a dream.
The heartbreaking fact is that those who are battling addiction simply can’t enjoy the things we all take for granted.
Going to work and booking a holiday is something they can’t dare to think about as they deal with the consequences of their addiction, which include everything from homelessness to committing crime.
“I was 10 or 11 when I started smoking cannabis. I was in care surrounded by older boys and thought it was cool,” confessed another Glasgow man battling with addiction.
Now 34 and a father himself, he admitted: “I don’t want to live this life anymore, I have been in prison since 2010, and I just got out two months ago.
“To me prison is a rehab because I don’t use drugs when I am inside. I am trying to chase to get back out so I don’t want to jeopardise that by using in prison.”
Another 34-year-old said he was abused as a child and started “on the gas” at the age of 11 “to get out of his own head”. He progressed to legal highs and heroin. He said: “It was the great escape for me, it just got me out my head.”
The group also includes a woman who had battled with alcoholism for 36 years. At 52, the woman said she was initially an “everyday drinker” but now she describes herself as a “binge drinker”.
The woman, who is fresh out of rehab, said: “I just want to stop making my family ill. They worry so much and I have put them through the mill. They are still there but it is very hard for them.”
She added: “I drank to submerge things. I hated myself and I still don’t like myself. I had so much self-hatred and now I have to face those fears which is hard.”
The group of people who shared their stories with the Evening Times are perhaps the most vulnerable to falling victim to an overdose.
Today marks International Overdose Awareness Day, and services like Turning Point will take a moment to recognise those who have lost their life to drugs.
The organisation, however, hopes that their interven- tion work through schemes like the Abstinence Project can save a life.
LYN FOY, who is service manager of Abstinence Project, said: “The people at most risk of an overdose are those who are in treatment and have reduced their drug use.
“Those coming out of prison or rehab because they have been in an environment where they could not access drugs. On exit from institutions, people’s tolerance lev-