MY STORY OF ICE ADDICTION

A FORMER private schoolboy has told how the drug ice wrecked his
teenage years and sent him spiralling into a life of crime.

Sean Gooley remembers staying awake for three and four days at a
time, unable to sleep.

He remembers stealing thousands of dollars from his boss to feed his
habit. And he remembers spending terrified nights in jail after a
crime spree. "You forget what your life was previously," Mr Gooley
said.

"All I wanted to do was do it every day. You don't think of the
consequences - you just want that rush," he said.

Now aged 25, he was released last week from six months in
rehabilitation and is hopeful, this time, of recovery. He has
enrolled in a course to become a taxi driver and he wants to join the
Young Liberals.

Mr Gooley, who came from Cronulla, said his life started spinning out
of control at 16. He began smoking marijuana and moved on to party
drugs and, eventually, ice. "It was before the ice epidemic and no
one knew very much about it," he said.

His girlfriend introduced him to it. What began as a weekend fix
quickly turned into a daily one. And he escalated from smoking it to
injecting it. "That's where my life fell apart. It was a lot
different from other drugs. It was a really intense drug."

He dropped out of Year 11 and started working full-time at a
supermarket where he stole daily from cash registers. "There'd be a
rush in getting the money, a rush in scoring it and in the end a rush
having it.

He said it was fun "at the beginning" but after he was sacked the
emaciated teenager was forced to steal. A crime spree of burglaries
and car-stealing spun out of control.

"I spent a few weeks in jail because I didn't have bail, and that was
pretty scary," Mr Gooley said.

But his time in jail left a lasting impression and after he received
a three-year suspended jail sentence in March he went into
rehabilitation.

Since getting out last week, the recovering addict has been staying
with good Samaritan Col Hamilton in his Carlingford home in
north-west Sydney.

Mr Hamilton, 72, a retired bank manager and father-of-three, has been
taking in drug addicts for the past four years, offering support and
a bed. He said generally they respected his home and rules. "I
haven't lost too much stuff," he said.

"Every now and then the stereo will go into hock or the video.
Generally, I have the receipt and so I go and buy it back." He
attends court with them and has at times put up bail. The young men
often watch Mr Hamilton play bowls.

He said he tried to counsel them although that could be tough,
particularly when they were coming down off ice. Mr Hamilton said:
"This ice, of course, is the worst of the lot."

He said he got a sense of satisfaction when they kicked the habit.
But not all did. "There's a 60 per cent strike rate. The other 40 per
cent go back to their old ways or end up in jail."

Mr Gooley, who is renewing ties with his mother, said having a safe
refuge would help his recovery.