Colm, 16
I grew up in a rough neighbourhood full of drugs.
I always told my Dad I would never take drugs because I didn’t want to end up like the rest of the boys. I wanted to finish school and I didn’t want to go to jail, because I had heard bad stories about it. I lived with my Pa and when he died I had to move in with my Ma and brothers and sister. I never felt welcome there and I didn’t get on with anyone in the family. My brothers would beat me if I did anything wrong. I took the beatings for a few years then I tried to stand up for myself, but they beat me more. One day I went to school with a black eye and the teacher kept at me to find out what happened to me. I cracked up and I hit him and that was the end of the school years.
That was the start of all the troubles in my life. I started to hang around with the crowd I promised my Dad I would keep away from. We started robbing houses and cars. Soon I was introduced to drugs. I started taking E. I loved these and before long I was taking them everyday. Then I tried hash, speed and acid, but Es was my first choice. I was always getting stopped for drug searches and soon I had a bad name.
Nobody wanted to know me. I stole to support my habit. We were robbing shops three times a week and soon we had enough money to start dealing drugs. One day we needed a car to collect drugs, so we robbed one. The Gardaí caught us and I was sent to jail. I got out on bail, but soon I was in trouble again and ended up back inside. I knew this time I had a drug problem, so my Probation Officer suggested I go into treatment. I said yes because I didn’t want to keep going in and out of prison all my l life. I came to Aislinn and I wanted to get clean. I worked the Twelve Steps and I realised I had become one of those boys on my street that I said I never wanted to be.
I have finished my treatment, but I know my recovery has just begun.