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