Question by gareth: How can I help educate young people on heroin abuse through my personal experiences?
I am a 42 year old man who has battled drug abuse for years but heroin only came into my life full time around three and a half years ago .Once I new I was on my hundredth last chance and did want help ,it was hard to get unless you had a stack of cash to burn and after burning quite a big stack of cash already on trying several different ways of coming of heroin I knew there was only one chance I had left . The last chance Im talking about was going on a methadone programme,something that I always said I would never do but after trying everything else and leaving myself penny less it was my only lifeline left for me to try so I put my name on a waiting list and was told it could be as long as one and a half years .It took 10 months for me to get on the programme but in that 10 months I had put my family through even more hell ,gave myself a police record which I did not have before hand .I feel ashamed of what iv put my wife, children, mother ,father ,brother ,the list is never ending but now I do see some light at the end of the tunnel ,after nearly a year on methadone which I can only stress doesn’t work for everyone ,I have not only went on to a methadone programme but have grasped every opportunity of any kind of help because I basically new I wasn’t a bad person I just had some nerve ,anxiety and depression issues that I had battled and self medicated with valium and other benzodiazepeens for around 15 years then had a bereavement in the family and went on smack full time .Now I feel Iv so much knowledge ,help ,understanding of the whole drug culture ,may it be smoking pot to taking heroin I feel If I could give even one youngster a little hope or help to get clean I would love to .Im no trained drug councillor or even that well educated but what I can offer is understanding of being a drug addict and sometimes that’s worth allot more than all the degrees in the world and sometimes young kids can look up to someone who has actually been through what they are going through ,so if anyone has any knowledge of any way I could help either online by telephone or any other charitable work to do with kids on drugs or helping to educate kids to say no to any form of drugs I would be very happy .Many people will probably judge this question from me and say he needs to keep himself stable for a good few years first before he goes trying to help others ,well yes they can have their opinion but I feel I need to do something for myself and others because it can only help me more and give me some self respect back into my life doing something like this which ultimately can only strengthen my rehabilitation.So anyone who knows of something I could be doing to help the forgoten people, that like myself was on waiting lists and felt worthless please reply with suggestions.Thanks for reading ,and by the way I have not found god on my path to where I am today ,so don’t think I have a hidden agenda on trying to convert anyone .

Best answer:

Answer by BigNeil
Like you said, you should probably look into the local charities educating on drugs, They really like help from former users, to speak at schools(that kinda thing) because nothing beats someone who knows what it’s like, telling you about the risks, and why to say no, of course. So I’m sure they’d be very happy with your help.
If you want to work on the phone, or just online, I’m sure they’d love the help too, maybe you’d need some training, but especially with all the cuts, I’m sure they can use the volunteers.
And you could also check out some Buddy projects of course.

Stay strong man, and keep up the good work.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!