Drugs are scary
– they changed my life

Asif’s Story.

I started drinking alcohol at the age of twelve and I then went on to Cannabis amphetamines, LSD and I carried on with that until I was eighteen years old. I was introduced to heroin, crack cocaine and benzenes as well as continuing with the alcohol. It was getting worse, but because of the heroin, my Cannabis and alcohol take in dropped slowly.

I was on heroin for five years and it did things to me that I never thought would happen. I used to look at other addicts and think to myself, no! I will never get like that. It changed my life, basically, I lost my family, I lost everything. I lost my girlfriend and my best friends, I lost their love. I just had associates connected with the drugs.

In the Asian community there is a drug problem, but in the Nelson area where I come from there are many people who use heroin and also supply it. Also people who come over from Pakistan to get married here have problems with drugs too because over here it is more expensive and that gets them into trouble.

I am glad that I am not married at the moment because I would be ruining someone else’s life as well as mine. I have some mates who are married with kids who are addicts, but I thank God that I am not married. If I were I’d destroy my kids and family like I have destroyed myself. Now that I am clean I can see what I have done to my family who have always supported me. Before they left to go on holiday my mum cried, because she didn’t know if I would be alive when she came back. She is ringing me often, she and my dad are happy for me and they are giving me support. My dad has always been the strong man in the house, and yesterday when he rang he said that he was happy for me and told me not to worry about anything, just to think about myself. That really helped me.

When I leave here, and it’s early days yet, I would like to live my life without drugs and I would like to help others, because I have had good things in my life. It’s scary being on drugs, I know that it’s not the real me and I know that I can help others like me.