A FORMER ketamine addict - whose weight plummeted to just six stone during his darkest days - hopes sharing his turnaround and new venture will help tackle an ‘epidemic’ which is strangling the town.
Thomas Delaney, now 38, had long been an habitual ketamine user but spiralled when he was made redundant from his job in 2018 and consumed up to 28 grams of the highly-addictive substance in a day at his worst.
Given its cheap-to-buy price and fast-acting traits, Thomas told the Chronicle he was hooked before he knew it and had suicidal thoughts given his addiction’s severity.
Having embarked on the rehabilitation process at the age of 32 - including stints with Barnsley Recovery Steps - Thomas admits that despite its toughness, it’s what saved his life.
Ketamine - an effective anaesthetic - plays an important part in battlefield and emergency medicine.
It is also used to treat pain in end-of-life care and could treat some forms of depression, however it’s its non-medical use that is causing concern among some doctors and specialist drug-treatment providers.
On the illicit market, ketamine is cheaper than cocaine and MDMA, costing about £20 a gram.
Police forces report large seizures of the drug, but global rates of production are high, and the wholesale price of a kilogram of ketamine is believed to have fallen despite its rise in prominence.
This makes it an attractive drug for young people and those with a limited income, according to Thomas.
However, given his predicament, he opted to transform his life and has spent the last seven years clean.
“It was horrific and whilst I knew it was wrong, it’s so addictive that becoming hooked is easy,” he told the Chronicle.
“But, for a long time, I was a highly-functioning addict, working from home, using regularly.
“I then lost that job and my mask slipped - I was a mess.
“It’s still a massive problem in Barnsley but addicts are demonised.
“In poorer areas such as the town, you’re 18 times more likely to use drugs - the correlation truly is there.
“It’s an epidemic, now - I believe the long spell of lockdown did not help it but it now shows just how important drug education is.”
He has now embarked on the next chapter - YouthWISE - which is his social enterprise that’s set to empower young people and battle the causes of addiction head-on when it launches next month.
“I’m hoping YouthWISE will help schools - I do go into many settings now but an hour often is not enough so my idea is to see why youngsters turn to drugs in the first place and address it from its root cause.
“Kids are actively encouraged to discuss their mental health feelings and their thoughts on drugs should be treated the same - people should not be waiting until they’re 32 to turn it around.
“I was effectively a chain smoker but with ketamine - it started with a gram, then an ounce, then I used to buy in bulk and if it was there, I simply had to finish it.
“Hopefully my story - and how I focused on sorting my life out - can inspire change.”
