KICKING THE DRUG HABIT IN STYLE

A moment to savour: Karl Boughton, a 22 year-old recovering heroin addict
and alcoholic from Ballyfermot, sat in a London ballroom, wearing a tuxedo
for the first time. Surrounded by tables of journalists and publishers from
titles such as the Observer, GQ, New Scientist and Sky Magazine, he waited
with bated breath as the room fell silent and the words were spoken: ". . .
and the winner is - Hyper".

"I just knew we'd win," he says. "Right from the start, there was something
special about this project." The project was the production of a new
magazine by clients of the Eastern Health Board's drug rehabilitation
service, Soilse. And the prize - an award for design innovation under the
British based Total Publishing Awards scheme, held earlier this month.

Selected from over 400 entries, Hyper beat off competition from major
British and American publishing houses, knocking Wallpaper magazine from the
Time Warner stable into second spot in the design category.

"It was so great just to be acknowledged," says Karl. "All of us suffer from
lack of confidence, low self-esteem, insecurities and a lot of them are
unfounded. When I came here I never thought I could write a proper article
but I've learned we can achieve anything we put our minds to, although I
also know that if we don't continue to apply ourselves we will be back using
drink and drugs."

His words are echoed by Rachel McClean (20) from St Theresa's Gardens in
Dublin's south inner-city. "We never achieved anything in our lives," she
says. "Just to see your names in print is a great boost. Then, to win the
award. It's a new experience to feel valued like that."

Advancing their own rehabilitation is only one aspect of the project. In
producing Hyper, the recovering addicts wanted to bring young people a
magazine to which they could relate, a magazine which - without preaching or
scaremongering - critically addressed their lifestyles.

The first edition sought to explode some of the myths about heroin and asked
how and why young people started taking it. The second edition, published
three weeks ago, focused on the issue of paranoia and how drugs bring about
panic attacks, aggression, fear and anxiety.

Articles dealing with homelessness, alcoholism and law reform were also
featured, as well as book reviews, theatre reviews and cartoons.

This blend of public information campaigning and editorialising was praised
by the London judges who found the magazine "genuinely new in terms of
outlook and content". In their citation, the judges said: "Not only has
Hyper trained a team of young former drug-users to produce a magazine which
makes good use of their experiences in tackling drug and health related
issues, but it has also resisted the temptation to patronise or use shock
tactics."

Six recovering addicts are currently working on the magazine under the
direction of editor Stephen Mulkearn, a journalism graduate of DCU. "We
approach it as a magazine like any other with the main difference that the
journalists write primarily about their own experiences," he says. "That is
very beneficial from a rehabilitation point of view, getting them to explore
why they were on drugs. But it also helps to counteract a lot of the stuff
you hear about drugs in the media. A lot of journalists tend to
sensationalise the issue but these people have been through it and their
voice is more truthful and real."

The former addicts do most of the writing and photography and have an input
in design. The main designer for the first edition, which won the award, was
Ed Shipsey, who is based at Arthouse in Temple Bar. An inhouse health board
design firm has since taken over this responsibility.

The magazine has a print-run of 10,000 copies, most of which are distributed
to EHB drug treatment centres and other clinics in Cork, Galway and
Waterford. Its editorial philosophy mirrors that of Soilse, encouraging
heroin addicts to adopt a total abstinence approach rather than relying on
methadone maintenance.

All involved in Hyper agree that heroin, or any other drug, cannot be viewed
in isolation. "You can't expect to be staying off the gear if you're doing
alcohol or cannabis. You'll always end up returning to your drug of choice,"
says Rachel. "I went through methadone for a while but relapsed into heroin."

If any drug should be singled out, they say, it is alcohol. "It's not
cannabis but alcohol that's the gateway drug," says Karl. "It f up more
people's lives that heroin, cocaine, cannabis, ecstasy and all the others
put together."

While the magazine aims to give a voice to marginalised youth, it is eager
to avoid the "worthy" label. In giving graphic personal testimony of the
reality of drug abuse, it has attempted to challenge the traditional
approach to drug information campaigning.

"We did a comparison of literature from the UK and Ireland and noticed that
in England there is a much greater emphasis on harm reduction," says Karl.
"The Irish leaflets say drugs will always harm you or kill you but that is
not always the case. Drugs are enjoyable and, whether you like it or not,
people are going to take them."

Rachel's sister, Carol McClean (21), adds: "We had no knowledge about
heroin, or any of that, when we started drugs. No one sat us down at school
and we wouldn't have picked up any of these leaflets. That's why we wanted
to create something which would give you the facts but which you'd also want
to read."

The recovering addicts are unsure as to whether they would like to pursue
careers in journalism. They are just happy to be learning new skills and
furthering their reintegration into society. For the next edition, due to be
published in September, Carol is planning to interview young mothers
suffering from addiction, Rachel to compose a feature on how drugs affects
families, and Karl to write a personal account of his own recovery.