ON DRUGS SINCE SIXTEEN

Mark - aged 24

My name is Mark and I’m aged twenty-four. I started with a drug problem when I was sixteen. I was staying at my auntie’s house and my auntie caught me with some foil, so I got kicked out of the house and ended up on the streets.

I went to live with my auntie when I was fourteen. My mother was drinking all the time so I went into a children’s home. I first went into a children’s home when I was nine and I then went back to my mum but she still kept drinking. Then I was taken off her and put back into a children’s home. It was then that my social worker organised it for my aunt to take me in. I was there for about a year and a half. Things went well when I first went there. I had my own room, a TV and a video, a Hi-fi, everything that I wanted. Then I started to smoke Hash and then onto tablets, and finally on to heroin.

After my auntie kicked me out I went into a hostel and I’ve been in one ever since, going from hostel to hostel. I have also been in jail and I just got out very recently. I was sent down for car theft to pay for my drugs.

It’s just been hell really. I have been taking drugs, drugs and more drugs. I don’t know why I take drugs. I think when I want into the hostel it got worse. It’s hard to say no. At least I have my own room in the hostel and I’ve got my own clothes, but it’s full of drugs.

I liked going to school but then I got into a lot of trouble. I got in with the wrong crowd really and the trouble just started from then. At secondary school I was class and this teacher said to me, “You wee bastard,” and I just attacked him. I have never been to school since. I gave the teacher a broken arm but it was his own fault, he deserved it for aggravating me. He was grabbing me and shaking me so I just laid one on him.

I liked the children’s home because we used to go on lots of trips and we could watch Sky TV. Looking back I was in four different children’s homes. The best one was St. John’s in Alexandra Parade in Glasgow. There was a lot living there, with two in each room. It was also a school and they would also teach you in this home. The children’s homes were much better than the hostels.

Even though I have been homeless I have never wanted to leave Glasgow. I have slept on the streets hundreds of times. I can remember once waking up at half past two in the morning, it was freezing cold, and there was two police men there. They put me in jail for theft and I didn’t even do it. I thought it was harassment.

I would like to settle down with a girlfriend and have some kids and have my own house and that, but I have been trying to get help for years and nothing seems to be happening. I did have a girlfriend but it’s hard keeping a girl when your addicted.

I have just come out of jail and I’m not taking much at the moment but I know it’s going to get worse. I was inside for two and a half years and I would say to myself that when I got out I wouldn’t take any drugs. When I went back to the hostel I started again and I was back to square one. I have been in the following jails Castle Huntly, Polmont, Longriddend, Perth and Barlinnie.

I have never been on a rehabilitation programme for my drug problem but I do think I need it. I have mainly been in prison for theft and just one assault. I’m not really into fighting and I’m not a violent person. I’ve been done for a few house break-ins, car theft and shop-lifting.

When I was in jail I did some courses on maths, painting and decorating, computing and motor mechanics. In the last seven years I have been prison for four and a half years. There must be more to life than this. I’m trying to get help but it’s very difficult.

Each day I get up in the morning and have my breakfast. Then I go out for a walk and hang around with my mates for the rest of the day in the centre of the town.