‘It’s changed my life for the better’

Twelve months ago I was in supported housing in Banbury, I was on the verge of getting kicked out of college, and maybe losing my housing place. I was at rock bottom and smoking a lot of cannabis. I couldn't sleep and was very emotional and scared and had considered taking my own life. My key worker was aware of all of this and he mentioned the drugs worker to me. He told me that it was a confidential service and asked me to attend a drop-in session to meet the worker.

My first impressions were wrong

The first time I went I was high. My first impression was that I couldn't trust the worker and that I had little confidence that he would do any of the things he said he would but I decided to give him a chance anyway. A few sessions in, my impressions changed altogether and I thought he was a pretty sound and decent bloke.

Things took a while to change. I was still smoking and I could be dishonest and forgetful but I did always try to attend my appointments because I could see that they were important. In January I went through a really rough patch with my girlfriend and she basically gave me an ultimatum; it was her or the drugs.

He got into my head

My worker helped me to get off the drugs and back onto the straight and narrow. He listened to me and got into my head – but in a good way. He’d say something that would touch me and make me think about my life so that I would give an honest response. Over the next five months I took on board what was said to me and made an effort to change some of the smaller things in my life.

Now I have changed my lifestyle, I can sleep better, I take on board encouragement, my self-esteem has improved and I don't live in fear or feel paranoid anymore. The best thing is that I don't feel the need to smoke anymore and this is a really positive change.

I believed in myself

If other young people are having problems with cannabis and feel sketchy or paranoid then they should definitely talk to a drugs worker. Although I didn’t feel better overnight it was worth all the effort and has really changed my life for the better. Young people need workers to help them when they have problems; it really helped me believe that I could change and was exactly the right kind of support for me. I'm glad we had the time we needed for me to sort myself out and having someone to talk to, listen to what I had to say, and give me an honest opinion was really important to me.