Pubdate: Fri, 23 Mar 2012
Source: Record, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.royalcityrecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1654
Author: Niki Hope, The Record

'I WAS SO BROKEN DOWN AND BEATEN'

Myles Murphy started smoking pot when he was just nine years
old.

"Weed was around us a lot. ... it didn't even seem like a drug," the
19-year-old says.

When he was 13, Myles' drug use accelerated after his older brother
committed suicide.

"That was one of the hardest things for me," he says.

By 14, Myles, whose parents were both addicts, tried ecstasy. Then he
graduated to harder drugs - Oxycontin, cocaine, heroin. He also
started selling drugs, falling into a violent crowd, using more than
he owed and getting beaten up by his peers in the vicious drug trade.

It was a turbulent and troubled life, but through the help of New
Westminster's Last Door, he found a way out.

Myles turned up at "the Door," as its known by staff and residents, on
Dec. 6 - his "clean date." Myles landed in drug treatment before he
was even old enough to take a legal drink. He was just 18, but he'd
already been through a lifetime of hell.

"I really had nothing left," Myles says, describing his bottom. "I was
so broken down and beaten. I had nowhere to turn. I destroyed everything.

"I was like, 'my life is going nowhere, so I'm basically willing to do
whatever it takes,' and then I came here," he says, during an
interview at the Last Door's youth house on Ash Street. "I came here,
and I talked to kids my own age. They are happy, and I see them
laughing. They don't even know me, and they are investing in my life -
talking to me and wondering what's going on, making it comfortable for
me.

It's like the first time I felt like I could just be myself. That was
really appealing for me."

For 15 years, the Last Door has been helping drug-and alcohol-addicted
male youth - like Myles - find a solution. The agency's work with
teens has garnered the attention of other groups trying to help young
people overcome addiction. Last Door staff were recently invited to
speak in Hay River in the Northwest Territories.

Louise Cooksey, Last Door's director of development, was among the
group that went north.

"This group is spearheading a charge to see if they can get some
services locally, so they held a meeting," she says. "The point of the
meeting was to hear what Last Door does. They're interested in how we
work, how long we've been operating."

Currently, drug-addicted teens in Hay River have to go outside the
community to get treatment, Cooksey says.

"The minister of health from the Northwest Territories was there, and
he let them know that there's not going to be any government money.
The group is choosing to go forward and look at various models - one
that is community based rather government based."

Finding funding seems to be an ongoing challenge for those in
addiction-treatment services. It's especially tough for young people
who might not qualify for welfare.

"Unfortunately, the kids who get left out of that are the working
poors' kids," she says. "They really can't afford to pay to have their
kids in treatment, but their kids don't qualify for an under-age
welfare bed or anything like that, and that's just really sad."

Some youth, like Myles, are able to access a bed that is paid for by
the Fraser Health Authority. Others are in government care and qualify
for funding, or some can access treatment through their parents' work
health-care plan. But for many, it's impossible to find the funding.

"Really, Last Door youth program is underutilized almost solely due to
lack of funding for the kids," Cooksey says. "It's not like there
isn't a wait-list of kids waiting to get in."

As for Myles, he spent seven months in the Last Door, getting involved
in a 12-step program, learning to contribute to society and getting
his high-school diploma.

Today, he has a job and is writing and playing music. He has a good
relationship with his family - his mom and him even have the same clean date.

"My life's amazing compared to what it was," he says,
smiling.

If the music career doesn't take off the way he hopes, Myles has a
backup plan.

He wants to be a firefighter.

"I want to do something that helps other people," Myles
says.

For more information on the Last Door's youth program, visit www.last
door.org . 
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.