Quitting: It’s not in vain

ROY IS 25 years old. He wants to have a decent life. He wants to see far off countries and experience different cultures. He wants many of the things you and I want from life, but first he wants to beat his substance addiction.

To do that Roy attends the Coolmine Therapeutic Centre, situated on Lord Edward Street, a place where addiction is treated rather than tolerated.

It has been no easy journey for Roy to get to his current position in life. But as he explains, sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can start to make your way back. "I started alcohol and solvent abuse when I was just fourteen, then I moved on to hash and rave drugs like ecstasy and cocaine. After that it was the sleeping tablets, then methadone, and when I couldn’t get any of that I went on to the heroin."

But his drug of choice was always methadone, he liked it above all the others, and all he had to do was go to the doctor to get it. By this stage Roy was completely hooked.

However, the people at Coolmine don’t take those who are still abusing substances on to their program, they must first supply clean urine samples to prove they are willing to put in the effort. "I was coming here for eighteen months giving urine samples before I got on the program," explains Roy.

"To get in there can’t even be a trace of a headache tablet, but I was acting the eegit, giving dirty urine and that. I didn’t actually start here until I was on my knees. I got kicked out of my house and I had nowhere else to go, so I decided to give it a go. Nobody can make you give up drugs, you have to want to give them up yourself. You lose everything, your life, family and friends," Roy continues.

The Coolmine program offers those who want to beat their addiction a safe and supportive environment in which to do so. Residential houses which accommodate dozens of participants can be found on the outskirts of Dublin, away from the street scene which nurtures many a drug addict’s life style.

Therapy sessions are used regularly to help the participants face the reality of their situation, and in doing so help them build towards a drug free future. Roy says these kind of sessions are a great help to a confused drug addict. "Once you’re involved in drugs, it’s hard to tell the difference between a dangerous situation and a normal one. I’d walk into a flat of 10 people who are shooting up and sit down and join them just like you’d go out for a pint with your mates. That’s the mentality you are trying to beat. That’s how used to it you get, it’s very hard to break those ties."

The success rate of these programs run at about 46 per cent, a figure some might consider low. However, the success of these programs can often be hard to define. According to Coolmine Director Tom McGarry: "For those that really want it to work for them it will, but basically addicts have to feel that there is something at the end of the program for them. Sure relapses are part and parcel of addiction, you just have to teach the addict how to avoid the situation that caused them to relapse."

When I asked Roy if he felt he was nearly ready to leave the Coolmine program, he smiled and said: " If your taking drugs for six or seven years you won’t beat the addiction in a couple of months. I’m in no hurry to leave the program, I know if I left now the addict inside me would have me back on drugs within a couple of weeks. At the moment I feel safe coming here, I wouldn’t be able to handle life on my own just yet, but I will some day."

The name of the addict has been changed in order to protect his identity.