Waterlooville: Let's talk drugs

The News, Portsmouth

Hilary Mills has launched a campaign group for a more health based and harm reduction approach than criminal based to drugs.

Transcript

00:00My name is Hilary Mills. I've organised the event today, Let's Talk Drugs, to help reduce the stigma around it,

00:11offer support for families, those that are struggling with drug dependency,

00:17and just to help bring out all these conversations.

00:23I'm particularly passionate about, you know, harm reduction,

00:30because at the present I think the way we deal with it by making things illegal just isn't working, it clearly isn't working.

00:42Could you explain a little bit about that stigma? What is that stigma?

00:48Well I think people have got misconceptions, they think someone that's an addict is dirty,

00:55and most of all I feel that they think it's their choice, and somehow they feel that they can stop,

01:03they're still doing it by choice when actually it's an illness, but it's treated as if it's, you know, it's their fault.

01:14So they then think that they don't deserve any help because they brought it on themselves,

01:19and I think particularly families struggle with talking to people about it because they somehow feel guilty,

01:25isolated, which I personally felt very isolated, I didn't know where to go for help,

01:30I felt everyone was judging me, thinking it was my fault,

01:35and I think it's really important for people to, you know, say their stories,

01:42because everyone's story is slightly different, and a lot of addiction is trauma-based,

01:48so it's not, it's trauma-based, they've had an event or something that's been traumatic in their life,

01:55and they're doing what a normal human being does, they're trying to make themselves feel better,

02:00and you know, sadly some people, you know, fall down this trap and this merry-go-round,

02:06and I think understanding what's behind addiction is really important as well, so, yeah.

02:12And you said something about sharing stories as well, that's helped people.

02:16Pardon?

02:17You said something about sharing stories that help people around them as well.

02:26Could you share your story?

02:28Yeah, well my story was, I have got four children, three boys and one daughter,

02:37and my oldest son Ben, from quite a young age, he had ADHD and dyslexia, so he struggled in school.

02:48I think a lot with Ben, he felt like he wasn't good enough, do you know, like academically he struggled,

02:55and unfortunately he got in with the wrong crowd, that was some of it,

03:01it started off with a bit of alcohol, a bit of experimenting,

03:07and gradually as the years went on, people were offering different things,

03:13and unfortunately, having that sort of nature, he slipped down into the addiction path.

03:24He was in prison about two or three times, young offenders, all for offences that involved drugs,

03:31so he probably wouldn't have done it if he wasn't drug-based.

03:35I don't feel the prison service, they were more on a punishment view rather than rehabilitation.

03:43He didn't get the right support, and more importantly, I don't feel we got the right support to be able to support him.

03:51You know, so he would come out, and just, you know, without any, you know,

03:57with a criminal record it was making it harder to move on in life.

04:01He was in prison actually in his GCSE year, so he didn't actually end up taking the GCSEs,

04:07because, you know, he was in prison.

04:10Yeah, and it all spiralled from there, and as he got older he did have little odd jobs here and there,

04:15but he could never stick at anything, because of his troubles with, you know, drug abuse and alcohol.

04:22I felt very guilty, I felt like I should have helped him more, I thought I could, you know, I just didn't know what to do.

04:29His dad was also struggling with drug dependency, and sadly he died about six years ago.

04:36Ben, because he didn't have the tools to deal with stressful situations, sadly he died three months later from an opiate overdose.

04:49He was living in a supported living, but what struck me is the fact that he was so ashamed,

04:57and he was so, you know, scared, he went into a toilet, even though there was other drug users there,

05:03because he didn't want to face people, and he used drugs, and sadly he collapsed in the toilet.

05:09He got brought round by the paramedics, they managed to get a heartbeat,

05:16but he died three weeks later from brain injury, so that's my story.

05:22And ever since then I've tried to look at ways for how to, you know, stop this happening to other people,

05:27or maybe give people opportunities to talk without judgement, and without getting into trouble,

05:35you know, try and bring mental health and drug services together,

05:39because I think there's a massive gap between mental health and the drug services, so yeah.

05:45And today it's about bringing all those services together.

05:51For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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