In October 1995, just two months after I had turned 14, I smoked my first joint. About a month later, I had my first experience with Speed. Six months later, I was smoking Marijuana almost every day, drinking Alcohol, and taking Speed on a regular basis. I took my first Ecstasy pill aged 16 and not much after I was 17 I tried Cocaine for the first time.
Before long, these also became a regular part of my week, at times taking up to five pills, Cocaine, Alcohol, and excessive amounts of Dope all in one evening. This was my life for more than nearly six years and the worst of it is, I was not alone. However, in my late teens I did not know anyone who had not at least “dabbled” with street drugs and most people, like myself, were regular users. I am sure one would expect to hear such horror stories of children from broken homes and inner-city council estates. However, I am not that story. I grew up in a small but affluent town in Surrey. I am from a middle class family who loved and cared for me in every possible way. I worked hard at school and had big ambitions for my future. The question is how did I go from spending my spare time doing extra home work to watching “Countdown” and “Ready, Steady, Cook” stoned out of my head? The answer is I did not know any better.
I am not saying that I just “accidentally” got into drugs. I take full responsibility for all my decisions I have made in my life. However, I did not know anything about drugs; what they were, what they did to you and the reasons why you should not take them. I had no one to ask. During my school life the subject of drug education was almost non-existent. I vaguely remember one lesson when a policeman came in and showed us a briefcase full of drugs. The reason why this is such a hazy memory is that I was probably stoned during that lesson. It was definitely a case of too little too late.
I attended a Narconon Drug Education seminar in early 2001 and my world turned around. I finally got answers to all my questions that had puzzled me for so long. The seminar was delivered by an ex-user, so for the first time I could openly speak to someone who knew what he or she was talking about. I knew at that point that I could use what they had been through to help other people from making the same mistakes that I did. I know how I felt that day after hearing the truth about drugs that if I had heard that data early enough it would have saved me six years of my life.

I have now talked to over 1,500 school children around the country and the response never fails to amaze me. Stripping away the false data and leaving the truth enables people to make the right decision on a subject so often brushed aside as unimportant.
The work we do at Narconon Drug Education is hugely effective.
It is obvious to me that the children I speak to have many unanswered questions about drugs. Ordinarily they may well satisfy this curiousity by experimenting themselves. This is something I am helping to prevent by talking honestly and openly about my own experiences. One question often put to me by the kids is, “If you could have your time again would you still take drugs?” My answer is always the same. Personally, I would not hesitate to change what I did during my teens, but what I went through means I am in position to be an excellent Narconon Drug Education lecturer and have a hundred per cent certainty that drug education is a solution to the drug problem that is engulfing our society. We are saving lives by educating people on the truth about drugs, therefore those six years of my life may well have been worth it.