"HE'LL BE DEAD IN SIX MONTHS" - THE OTHER SIDE OF DRUGS

21-07-2007

Half a dozen cabinet ministers have owned up this week to smoking cannabis, kick-starting a national debate about drugs. Now The Stirrer has been contacted by a Birmingham man whose family is being torn apart by substance abuse - and he wants your advice.

For the sake of this article let's call the chap who got in touch with us Barney.

He lives in the north of the city and has a nephew, we'll call him Tom, who lives in a tower block close to town with his girlfriend and their two children.

Tom has become addicted to crack cocaine and to feed his habit has taken to dealing as well.

“The trouble is that the big dealers are giving him this stuff and demanding the money up front,” says Barney.

“Of course, he hasn't got it, so they kicked down the door of his flat and gave his girlfriend two black eyes”.

To protect the children, Barney says that Tom asked to be re-homed in another part of the city but has been told he doesn't qualify for another property (The Stirrer has been unable to confirm this with Birmingham City Council).

Barney says that he's also tried to get the police involved, but because Tom is too scared to “grass” the dealers - and probably too hooked to want to break the link anyway - the cops say they can't help (we haven't been able to verify this part of the story either).

The bottom line is that because Tom is an addict, his girlfriend and children are at risk - and it's alleged that the agencies which might help them are either unwilling or unable to assist.

Barney says: “He's just a bag of bones now, and my fear is that in six months time he'll be dead - either through the drugs or because these are the kind of guys who'll put a bullet through your head.

“What amazes me is that if you drive by his block and slow down, people will rush out and try to sell you all sorts.

“It's so blatant, yet nothing is being done about it. Tom's dad, my brother, died a few years ago, so I keep a special eye on the lad, but there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it - nor anyone else come to that.”

If nothing else, Tom's story highlights the dangers of drugs misuse. It also points to weaknesses in the “safety net” of our welfare state.

The family apparently don't qualify for emergency re-housing, although if Tom's girlfriend and children made themselves homeless they would presumably get help - only, though, at the price of breaking up the family.

They fear that calling in social services would have the same effect.

Getting the police directly involved might put their lives at risk.

We recognise that there are gaps in this story and, because it came to us after office hours on Friday, we haven't been able to check all the allegations.

ButBarneyis a normallyreliable source and we trust the basic outline of the story.

He's now at his wit's end - and we're inviting Stirrer readers to comment and offer any practical solutions that you think might work.