Mum campaigns to get drugs off the streets

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The mother of a 16 year old Newtownards girl hooked on the lethal legal high Mephedrone has spoken openly about the consequences of the drug that last week contributed to the death of a teenager in Bangor.

Sara Sterling first told her story to the Chronicle just over a year ago. Her daughter had been battling with drug addiction for almost a year, smoking cannabis from the age of just 14.

Her costly addiction led her into a downward spiral of anti-social behaviour. She became irrational and abusive, was expelled from school and began stealing to feed her habit, landing her in juvenile court.

A year later and the scenario is all the more frightening.

Last October, Saras daughter became hooked on a new drug, Mephedrone, which is now being blamed for a spate of young deaths and suicides across the UK, including several in Northern Ireland.

As the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommends the drug be classified as Class B drugs and a ban on the legal high looks likely to be placed on it on April 16,

Sara is appealing for parents of local users to come together in a bid to rid the area of the drug and push to get the right support for their children.

'My daughter had been using the old abattoir in Newtownards as a place to meet and take this drug', she told us.

'She went missing one night and myself and my sister went out looking for her. A taxi driver eventually pointed us in the direction of the old abattoir building. We couldn't believe what we saw when we went in.

'There was around 20 of them [youths], including my daughter, all off their heads on this stuff. The place was disgusting, bottles and things used for taking drugs lying everywhere. Their behaviour was frightening and my daughter was so violent towards my sister that we had to leave and get help.'

The two women ran to the police station and returned to the abattoir with six police officers. However, as the building was condemned, after a short while the officers stated they could no longer continue their search for the young people, as it was dangerous and contravened health and safety regulations.

A few weeks later, Sara's daughter disappeared.

'She was missing for five weeks. I had no idea where she was, or who she was with. The police were very helpful and carried out a lot of local searches, but we couldnt find her. We now know she was moving from house to house within an area of Newtownards, with a gang of other Mephedrone users', she said.

Sara's daughter is currently living in a secure unit, where she has been for the past 10 weeks.

In two weeks time, however, this facility will no longer be available to her, and Sara will once gain be faced with the fact that her daughter will be open to the temptation of returning to drug abuse.

'People need to realise that this can happen to anyone, from any background. No matter how good your children are, all it takes is for them to fall in with the wrong crowd thats what happened to my daughter. She fell in with a crowd at school and they were all using drugs, so she did the same.

'What is important is that people do not hide. Come forward, talk about it, get help. You will be surprised how many other parents are going through the same hell that you are.'