'The sickness inside' - anatomy of a drug addict

George Tabone, owner of Gram jewellers, is a well-known face to many, but he was not always this successful, having had to battle a drug addiction in his younger years.

"It's no secret that I used to take drugs. I decided to turn to recovery when I reached the point where I couldn't live with drugs and I couldn't live without them," he said.

Mr Tabone, who has been clean for the past 20 years, will share his demons on Xarabank on TVM tonight, the second and final part of the programme on drugs.

He will describe how he lived for drugs and how he depended on this habit to survive.

"I lost everything, I had problems with the police. I was mentally emotionally and physically bankrupt," he said, describing addiction as a personality disorder.

"I don't believe that you ever get well; the condition can only be arrested as long as you live well, emotionally and mentally," he added.

So was his addiction a result of his upbringing?

"If you were raised to embrace good values, when it comes to recovery all you have to do is rediscover those values. It is harder for those who have never learnt those values in the first place, and still have to discover them."

Mr Tabone described drug addiction as a social problem, a symptom of a sick society.

"We prioritise by having the best lawyers and doctors, but we don't prioritise to ensure we have good human beings, with good relationships. As long as we keep creating unsatisfied citizens, we'll continue to have drug addicts," he said.

When asked about his recovery, Mr Tabone said that people should be exposed to the rehabilitation programme for a better society; a spiritual, not religious society.

In his case he was also lucky to be blessed with tremendous support from those around him.

"My wife, my mother, supported me unconditionally even when I wasn't successful."

A drug addict needed help to deal with the sickness. "You are not responsible for your condition, but you are responsible if you know there is a way out and you don't do anything about it," he said.

After doing three years with Caritas, who run a drug rehabilitation programme, Mr Tabone opened a shop where he worked a 10-hour day without a break, in an attempt to recover the lost years.

He admitted that apart from drugs he also had an alcohol problem, which he managed to beat.

"Today I focus all my energies on the positive things in my life; my work, my family and giving back to society," he said.

Mr Tabone, who has two sons aged five and two, still goes to groups today in his effort to help others to recover and to continue his own.

"I would be lying if I said I was not afraid. But, if I look after my sons to the best of my ability, not just basic needs, but also emotional ones, I don't believe they will inherit the addiction."

Mr Tabone believes that drug addicts should not be sent to jail, even if they have sold drugs to support their habit.

"His problem is not the drug, it is the emotional sickness inside, it is this disease that has to be addressed for the person to recover. The fact that there is a drug problem in jail is an insult - the authorities are just not doing enough."

Finding employment was also a problem for former drug addicts. Mr Tabone said he had no problem employing them and recounted the story of an employee who admitted she had a drug addiction.

"I told her that if she went on the rehabilitation programme, she could return to work straight after," he said, adding that she had come out clean and did return to work.

Mr Tabone said it was important that society destroyed the mentality of "this can't happen to me".

"I have a debt to pay back to Caritas, to show the result of their hard work, and what they do for people everyday."