To begin at the beginning, I must make a confession. As regular Prospect readers will know, I am a heroin addict. In my case, the millstone of addiction lives side by side with a cycle of criminality. I’ve spent most of the last 20 years in prison.
I do my time, hope that one day I might break the habit. Whenever my release comes round, I head off determined not to make the same mistakes. It never works out, but last time, on a chilly February morning one year ago, I was more than usually optimistic.
Wandsworth prison in southwest London had just initiated a methadone (heroin substitute) scheme for people like me. I had a letter from the prison’s senior medical officer, addressed to a drugs agency in Soho. I had been instructed to report there straight away.
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