My parents come from the West Indies.  Religion was a focal point of our life.  I rebelled against my religion and beliefs from a young age which in turn lead me down a path of dishonesty and drug taking that ultimately spiralled out of control.  I was left being stereotyped by society in general as a drug dealer, a nuisance and a threat.

But I knew that this image that people had of me was not the image that I had of myself.  But I was unable to return to my religion and cultural past because of the shame and guilt within me.  This left me with two choices.  One to stop and make some attempt to salvage what sanity I had left.  I came to the Ley Community, and I have been here for seven months now, and can honestly say that this place works.

‘Salam’. My name is Mukhtar. I am of Islamic faith and have been misusing drugs for 11 years. Although my culture and religion is different in many ways, my drug problem and addiction isn’t. My family tried no end to help me, but couldn’t understand the route of my problems. At first, my drug problem was contained within the family, due to family pride and honour as we dealt with our own problems. This didn’t work. So I needed help from somewhere I would be understood. I got the help I needed when I came to the Ley. I was helped to combat my addiction and began to understand myself much better, which in turn helped me to rebuild and better myself.