Ballymun Recovery Stories: Personal Journeys of Drug & Alcohol Recovery
4 Dave’s Story “There is no shame in beginning again, for you get a chance to build bigger and better than before.” -Leon brown I was born and reared in Ballymun, and I came from a respectable tight-knit family. I was a relatively latecomer to drink and drugs in comparison to a lot of young people from the community. I had my first drink with my friends at 19 years of age and it soon became a weekend thing, socialising with mates, drinking cans and going to pubs and clubs I enjoyed the buzz alcohol gave me, and in a relatively short time, it became part of my daily routine. Drink was easy to get on tick at that time, so I didn’t need to revert to crime in order to feed my habit. I left
home around the age of 21. By 24 or 25 years of age, I was hooked on alcohol and I realised I had a drink problem. A few years later, I was introduced to heroin. I was drinking in a flat with friends who knocked out drugs. They were smoking ‘gear’ (heroin) and I asked if I could try it. Much like drink, I was taking it recreationally, but within a year, I was also hooked on ‘gear’. I used drink as a substitute when I couldn’t get drugs. By the age of 30, I was doing heroin on an almost daily basis and I was getting into crime to feed my habit. During this time, my family were 15
