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'I feel like I have a purpose': the ex-addicts working to save lives

A project in Redcar is training people to administer naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose

George Charlton’s T-shirt is emblazoned with the words “nice people take drugs” in vibrant neon orange. George is sitting in the offices of Addaction, one of the UK’s leading drug and alcohol charities, in Redcar, in the north-east of England, looking out over the town’s esplanade and the North Sea beyond.

“I like these T-shirts,” he says. “I like to go into the Co-op on a Monday morning and have someone do a double take and say: ‘Really? Are you mad wearing that?’ It allows us to have a conversation. They’ll say: ‘You’re a decent lad,’ and I’ll say I was a problematic drug user for 15 years. Nice people do take drugs.”

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/370BDIU

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