Author Irvine Welsh hits out at coalition plan to force addicts into rehab.

Published on Friday 20 August 2010 18:35

The author Irvine Welsh - famed for his chronicle of Edinburgh drug abuse, Trainspotting - made a rare public appearance in his home city yesterday and wasted no time in criticising the new Westminster government.

Mr Welsh, speaking on the day the coalition threatened to withdraw benefits from addicts who refused to attend rehabilitation courses, described the proposals as "dangerous"

He said: "This is one of those tub-thumping things that doesn't get to grips with the nature of the problem.

"To put people in a programme they are not ready for or is not beneficial to them is very dangerous."

He added: "This is one of the things where people might say on the surface 'yea, they should'. But the whole manner of addiction is multi-causal and it worries me that people would be shoe-horned into projects they are not ready for."

The author, who achieved international acclaim in 1993 with his hard-hitting novel about the capital's heroin sub-culture, made his remarks after presenting a certificate to a woman who was the 150th graduate from a drug programme promoting abstinence - the first of its kind in Scotland.

Rachel Thomson, 31, attended the three-month LEAP (Lothians and Edinburgh Abstinence Programme) at Malta House in Edinburgh, which offers intensive support with access to aftercare back-up and housing and employment advice including work experience.

Mr Welsh claimed such projects could have saved the lives of many of his contemporaries dragged into drug abuse in their teens and twenties.

He said: "If something like what's going on at Malta House had been available 25 years ago it would have made a lot of difference to me personally. A lot of people who are dead now would have been living very fulfilled and happy lives.

"It's very uplifting to come here and speak to people who've been in the project and see how things have moved on. You can't just detox people and send them back out into the community."

But Mr Welsh also stressed the responsibilities those with addiction problems had to try to resolve their problems.

"A project can provide as much support as it wants to, but it is never, ever, going to do the job. That's up to the individual. You have to accept you do this to yourself, you can get yourself back out of it. You are not powerless. It is not easy. People strip themselves down to the bone and reassemble themselves." Ms Thomson, one of three to graduate yesterday, has been alcohol-free since joining the programme in June.

She said: "LEAP gave me something I hadn't had before - hope. It made me realise I had an illness and that it was not a moral issue. Working on the reasons why I self-medicated has helped build my self-esteem. It wasn't until two years ago that I realised I had a problem with alcohol.I went through the detox process but for me it didn't fix the reasons why I drank and soon enough I was back to self-medicating with alcohol.

"When I arrived at LEAP I knew I was in the right place. Finally I felt I understood and I think the staff cared more about me than I did.

"LEAP taught me about the disease of addiction and gave me the skills and strength to cope with the issues behind my drinking. The support I received has allowed me to build strong friendships and I consider that to be my medication for the disease of addiction.

"For the first time I have a belief in myself. I know there are opportunities open to me and I plan to make the most of them."

LEAP was launched in September 2007 to offer support to addicts. Those who graduate sign up for the transitional vocational training programme and attend five days a week. Several have gone on to further education and university.

Irvine Welsh in his own words

• IN Scotland, our cultural relationship with alcohol interfaces negatively with resilient poverty to maintain the long-running embarrassment of this weeping sore on our social fabric. Cheap bevvy is part of that culture.

• There's all this stuff that is happening in Edinburgh now, it's a sad attempt to create an Edinburgh society, similar to a London society, a highbrow literature celebrity society.

• I grew up in a place where everybody was a storyteller, but nobody wrote. It was that kind of Celtic, storytelling tradition: everybody would have a story at the pub or at parties, even at the clubs and raves.

• I feel like I've exhausted guys and male friendships.

• It was around the summer of 1982 when the drug problem really impacted. It became a lifestyle rather than a recreation. When you start lying and stealing, you cannot con yourself you're in control any more.