Lee's story
Lee started using cocaine recreationally with mates on weekends. After a while he was unable to go out without first taking a line of coke. Before he knew it, he wasn’t going out at all and had managed to alienate most of the people he loved.
Nowadays Lee, 35, is drug-free and has plans for the future. But until relatively recently his life was filled with “doom and gloom”.
The Huntingdon man says his problem started about eight years ago, when he began taking coke with friends on weekends, unaware how addictive his drug of choice would become.
“You saw it as just cocaine. You went out to the pubs and did a little bit.”
At first the drug made him feel “really, really confident”. But soon a couple of lines of cocaine weren’t enough to sustain that buzz.
“As you use it more often your lines get bigger and bigger and you need to take it more and more and more. At my worst I was doing up to six grams in one night. That’s £300 worth.”
As Lee’s dependency on cocaine increased, he became more and more isolated from his family and friends.
“A lot of people on the outside don’t understand what it is you are going through. Mistrust is a big thing.”
Lee was able to hold down his well-paid job but found it increasingly difficult to fund his expensive habit.
“I stopped paying bills so that I could find the money for my drug. I realised I had a problem when my family unit fell apart.”
The turning point for Lee came after he found himself using cocaine at work one day. Horrified by his actions, he sought advice from a local GP.
“He was extremely helpful. He didn’t judge me. He talked to me about it and explained I had to self-refer to get help.”
Lee says the self-referral process is important because it forces you to admit you have a problem and do something about it.
In September 2007 he contacted Huntingdon District Council, who put him in touch with Dialdruglink, a local drug treatment agency. Since April 1 2008, all adult drug treatment services are being provided by Addaction, Britain’s largest specialist drug treatment agency, including the service provided by Dialdruglink.
Kicking the habit hasn’t been easy but with the help of Dialdruglink and now Addaction’s non-judgemental staff, Lee’s been able to make a fresh start.
“I’ve started to rebuild my life. It’s really over the last couple of sessions that I’ve started to see things more clearly. Before my head was full of doom and gloom. Now it’s full of hope for the future – and that’s thanks to Addaction.”
Lee says cocaine’s often perceived as a glamorous drug that’s easy to quit but the reality’s very different.
“It’s been glorified in the press with celebrities like Kate Moss using it in the past. One moment they’re the most hated people in Britain on the front page – and the next they’re on the front page for signing a new contract and signing into the Priory. In real life it’s not like that. It takes a lot of time and effort to give it up.”