Reading drug user transforms her life - and urges others to do the same

Reading drug user transforms her life - and urges others to do the same

LONDON, May, 22, 2008/3mnewswire.org/ -- A recovering drug-user from Reading has today urged others to follow her lead in making the life changing decision to seek the help of local drug treatment and support services. 45-year-old Annette has chosen National Tackling Drugs Week, launched on Monday 19 May by Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker, to share her poignant story in the hope of encouraging others to take advantage of the help that is available.

The plea comes as hundreds of drug treatment agencies and police officers have been hitting the streets as part of National Tackling Drugs Week, to highlight and promote the work that goes on throughout the year in communities to reduce the harm caused by illegal substances.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said:

"National Tackling Drugs Week is about highlighting the vital everyday work that goes on everyday across the country to cut drug use. I want to congratulate those who go that extra mile to help thwart drug supply and encourage young people to stay away from drugs.

"We can only do this through tough enforcement combined with powerful education and drug awareness campaigns like FRANK, and, where necessary, tailored treatment to get users off drugs for the benefit of them, their families and their communities."

Annette explained how her personal slippery slope into long-term hard drug abuse began at the age of 25 when she started smoking marijuana.

She said: "Within a year of first smoking resin I had already injected myself with heroin which has ruined my life ever since. I've spent the last 20 years drifting along, basically wasting my life through all sorts of drugs like amphetamines, ketamine and crack cocaine.

"I funded my habit across all of this time by stealing from shops and supermarkets - which eventually ended with me being sent to prison."

In 2000, Annette's husband, who was also a drug-user, was diagnosed with severe liver disease and given just 6 months to live. The couple managed to give up injecting heroin and relied on methadone, a change that prolonged his life by 6 years. The death of Annette's husband in 2006, however, pushed her back over the edge and she began injecting heroin to cope with her grief.

She said: "I was so distraught after my husband died that I just stopped caring about myself and everything around me. I had problems with my neighbours who complained to the council about me and I was forced to sign an Acceptable Behaviour Contract."

As part of the Acceptable Behaviour Contract, Annette was required to attend bereavement counselling and attend an agency to address her drug problem. Cranstoun Drug Services was recommended to her as an organisation that could help.

Annette said: "I volunteered to go along so that I could keep my tenancy, but I didn't think it would really be able to help me change my situation. Thankfully I couldn't have been more wrong. I started attending in October last year and within a month I had enrolled on an English and Computer Studies course. I also stopped injecting myself around Christmas and am really trying hard to get off it completely."

Annette is under no illusion that seeking help from a service provider like Cranstoun has helped transform her life and she is now looking forward to the future in a way she never thought possible.

She added: "I feel I'm in such a better place now and my confidence has really grown which is down to being at Cranstoun every day and going to school. The team there has given me the chance to get my life back and they do it so well you don't even realise it's happening."

J'ulanta Carriere, Reading Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT), said:

"Annette's story highlights the massive impact that drug treatment and support services, such as Cranstoun, can have on people's lives. We at the DAAT are always delighted when a drug user begins the process of literally reclaiming their life from an addiction and I urge those in a similar situation to Annette to seek the help on offer across a range of organisations in Reading."

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