'Paul’ was just a teenager when his casual cannabis smoking quickly spiralled into addiction. Turning Point, which has a centre based in Sheerness, is helping him along the road to recovery. He spoke to reporter Emma Grove

Paul has been taking drugs for almost half of his life and it is only now, after the birth of his two children, that he is getting help to battle his addiction.

His drug-taking began when he was a teenager and he started smoking cannabis.

Then with the clubbing scene in the 1990s this led to the occasional ecstasy pill.

However, he said up until he was 21, he could take or leave the drugs and they weren’t a priority. But then he started snorting cocaine and it didn’t stop.

He said: “As soon as I did it, I was hooked. When I started snorting that’s when it all went crazy; before you know it it’s out of control.”

Paul, now 35, described himself as a binge user at the height of his addiction; it wasn’t 24/7, but a few days straight at a time.

At his worst Paul would be spending £1,000 on a three-day session and throughout his addiction, he managed to hold on to a job to fund his habit.

He said sometimes he would be snorting his last line on the way to work.

He said: “You just crash afterwards. You get tired, have no energy and are miserable.

“I would have lots of alcohol in the house and I would save it for when I had no drugs left to take the edge off.”

Paul smoked crack for the first time when he had run out of cocaine and it was all he could get.

He added: “It takes everything good about you away from you, all of your good qualities.

“I see it as shameful that I let myself get like that.”
The wake-up call for Paul came with the birth of his two children, now two and four months.

He said: “Towards the end I had moments of clarity. I could hear my baby crying and I didn’t feel sorry for myself, I felt sorry for my baby and thought what have I brought them into?

“I don’t want my kids to ask how did daddy die and they are told he was a drug addict.

“I want to be and I’m going to be a good dad.”
Paul said his drug misuse has caused him to suffer from paranoia.

He is working hard to overcome his problems and is starting to feel positive about the future.

He knows it is a long road, and although sometimes he misses the buzz of a high, the baggage that comes with drug abuse lasts longer than the short-lived feeling you get from the drugs.

He said: “I was warned by my parents and given all the advice about drugs that parents would give their children.

“I have got nothing to blame except the choices and bad decisions I made.

“But I’m positive; I’ve got the kids, I have got money in my pocket and everything to live for.

“I just want to be normal. I’m going to win. I want to make something of myself.”

'No magic wand'

Paul is keen to stress there are people out there who can help drug users, but the first stage of getting help has to start with the addict.

He said: “There’s no magic wand, you have to want to get help.

“You have got to be willing to put the effort in and turn up for your appointments.

“It’s important to have someone to talk to because if you dot talk about it all the tension builds up.

“The people [at Turning Point] understand you and can give you feedback and explain things to you – where you are going wrong and give you advice.

“It’s about hard work and you have got to ask for help because you can’t do it by yourself.”

About the service

Turning Point, which is the UK’s leading social care organisation, has a centre based in Trinity Road, Sheerness.

They offer help and advice to anyone who uses substances, ex-users and family and friends of users.

Their service includes advice and information, a needle exchange, complementary therapies, counselling and group and one-to-one sessions.

Steve Ripley, substance misuse worker at Turning Point, has been working with Paul on his visits to the centre.

He said: “Workers take everybody as individuals and the services are such that we can tailor treatment to the individual to give them the best opportunity of success.

“With Paul we started at a very basic level, not just the drugs but the other issues it brings such as relationships.

“From a personal perspective to see someone like Paul find freedom from the pressures of addiction, that’s what makes my job so special.

“If you are immersed in that world of a drug using culture, it’s hard to come away from that way of life; you have to create a whole new life.

“But I see people like Paul who, against all odds, make a life away from drugs.”

Turning Point also offers a drop-in service every weekday.

You can contact Turning Point on 01795 580028 or emailwestkent@turning-point.co.uk