|
|
EDGES MAGAZINE Issue
23 |
October
2000 |
 |
My name is
Derek Brookes an I’m twenty-four. I am from Dumbarton, just outside
Glasgow. I have two older brothers, one is twenty-nine and one is thirty.
I’ve never actually been homeless for a long period of time. The
longest that I have been homeless is about three months. Through drugs and
other problems I had to leave my hometown of Dumbarton. I was living with my
mother and bringing a lot of trouble to my mother’s door. My mum
didn’t actually throw me out but I felt that if I didn’t leave some
harm was going to come to me or my family.
I started to use drugs as an
escape from the problems because when I take drugs I don’t need to think
about life, the bad things like money problems. I first took drugs when I was
about twelve or thirteen. I started by smoking cannabis as most people do, then
I moved on to things like tamazipan, acid, vallium and later on when I was
about seventeen I moved onto heroin. It was all downhill from there.
At
school I was a lot happier, because I was young and I didn’t have a lot to
think about. It was quite hard though because I didn’t know what subjects
to pick. About the third year into school is when my attitude started changing.
I thought that if they didn’t want to help me then I didn’t want to
help myself. That’s probably when the drugs came into it.
I have
never been to prison except for doing remand. I was on remand for an assault
and criminal damage. I got a fine along with a community service order.
At the moment I have a drug problem. I am currently trying to get off
heroin through a methadone programme. It’s definitely very hard because
with the methadone you have an addiction in itself and I realise that methadone
isn’t going to be the answer for me.
The future has got to be
better, I know that it’s got to change. At the moment I can’t see how
it’s going to change but I know that it’s got to be better. I’ve
been sitting waiting for something to come but I realise that I’ve got to
do something and make a change. |
|
|
