In my experience, close relatives are often the source of the problem. Addicts need the help of NHS professionals to get off drugs
I recently had a conversation with a mother on Twitter. She was supporting her son by buying him heroin. She loves him and can’t stand to see the physical pain he was in as the result of an accident. He was prescribed codeine, a highly addictive opioid that he found himself unable to get off. When the GP ended his prescription, he was offered methadone by a friend, which then led to him using heroin. A Serco nurse declared him fit to work but he hasn’t gone back. He can’t stop using heroin. He knows the dangers, he knows it might kill him and no matter how hard his mum tries to wean him off, he can’t stop.
Earlier this week, health secretary Sajid Javid said family members, and not the state, should be responsible for helping people out of drug addiction because of the “unsustainable finances” of the NHS. “Whether it’s stopping drug addiction or dealing with depression, there’s no more powerful motivating force than family,” he said. The fundamental flaw in his statement is that not only that many addicts have no immediate family surrounding them, it is that it is sometimes impossible to reason with a person in active addiction, no matter how detrimental their drug or alcohol misuse is.
The Secret Drug Addict is a recovering drug addict who offers support to anyone affected by addiction issues
In the UK, Action on Addiction is available on 0300 330 0659. In the US, SAMHSA’s National Helpline is at 800-662-4357. In Australia, the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline is at 1800 250 015; families and friends can seek help at Family Drug Support Australia at 1300 368 186
