 Mark is in the T.H.O.M.A.S.
rehab unit. |
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| Night Clubbing and Drinking led to | ||||
| Cocaine | ||||
| I started using drugs as a teenager towards the last few years
at school. It started with cannabis and ecstasy trips. I started nightclubbing
and drinking. The drugs progressed from ecstasy to cocaine which led me to
heroin to help me come down from the feeling of that. That led me to crack
cocaine which was my drug of choice. Through compulsion to use it and being
physically addicted to heroine I started to do more and more bad things to
myself and my family. I ended up losing my family. I had a baby son that I lost
and I lost my partner. I started doing more serious crime and eventually it led
me to burgling people’s houses. This led me to jail and I think this was
my rockbottom. I’ve been to jail a few times now for burglary. I’ve
just done my last sentence – 3 years for 33 burglaries, which I’m not
particularly proud of. Whilst I was there I made a conscious decision to turn
my life round. I thought ‘I’ve had enough of this’. Though I had
already started to do that because I put myself in jail; I handed myself in and
confessed to all that, purposely to go to jail. I knew that I had to do
something to change this. So I did what I could and I got on to all the drug teams and drug workers and found out what was available within the prison service. I was in HMP Altcourse in Liverpool and I asked for a transfer. I was sent to Lancaster Castle which is a rehab/resettlement prison. Whilst I was there I did all sorts of courses. I got all my gym qualifications. I did some academic courses and I did a drug and alcohol awareness and the PASRO (prisoners addressing substance related offending) courses. I was coming to the end of my time and I though I had used my time productively. What else was there for me to do? I spoke to the CARATS and I was told about T.H.O.M.A.S. I met Pam who liases with the prisons and spoke to her on a few occasions. I realised that T.H.O.M.A.S. was doing good stuff and I thought this is the project for me, so I came. I’m now at the back end of my 3 months programme, I’ve a couple of weeks left and I feel great now that I’ve lost my compulsion to use. There is still a lot that I have to put in place. I’ve lost the compulsion for drugs; I’ve got more awareness about myself and others; I analyse things a lot more and I stop and think before I act. But I’ve a lot to put in place because of my past. I need to do some stuff constructively that’s going to help me create a C.V. that’s going to appeal to employers. While I’ve been in here I’ve got my family back; I’ve got my son back and my ex-partner and me are good friends at the moment. I need to keep them. I think that I’m at the beginning with them, I’ve got a chance, I get on well with them and I need to build on that and to become a decent part of my family. I don’t want to hear about my family going to Paris for the weekend from someone else, I want them to tell me themselves. I used to get the feeling they didn’t tell me because they didn’t trust me, that if I knew the house was going to be empty I would go round and burgle it. Now I’m talking to them for hours and we’re planning this and that and I’m being invited to get involved and that’s good. So I want to build on that and keep it going. I mentioned my son. The relationship with him is back but he doesn’t fully understand who I am, he’s only four. But I suppose I’m lucky from that aspect, he’s a bit too young to really understand what’s been going on. I’ve sheltered him from the drugs thing. If you tell a kid about that they can lose their innocence. He’s got no bad things to think about me at the moment so I’ll build on that. There are other things – employment training, accommodation is another big thing. I’ve had flats before but I’ve been unmanageable in the area about paying bills; managing money; generally living life. |
