Aaron, Justin and Eddie consider themselves fortunate. While not happy to be in prison, all three have faced their addictions and thanks to treatment received in the onsite Drug Treatment Unit (DTU), they appear to have beaten the habit.
The three men are recent graduates of the Hawkes Bay DTU - one of five operating in Waikeria, Christchurch Men's, Arohata, Hawkes Bay and Rimutaka Prisons.
Supported by CareNZ counsellors, the three men underwent an intensive 24-week treatment programme with a mix of group and individual therapy to help them overcome their addiction.
While every prisoner is different, the common thread running through their lives is addiction - addiction that contributes to their offending, puts them in prison and affects their victims and families alike.
Aaron is a quiet 20-year-old who 'fell in with the wrong crowd'; Justin a man approaching middle age with dreams of having an engineering career; Eddie a recidivist offender desperate to turn his life around for his son's sake.
"Therapy was really interesting," says Justin. "It brought up a lot of issues that I didn't even know were affecting me.
"The counsellors really get inside your head and figure you out. Drugs were my life before I got sentenced. It was basically all I thought about. To first admit I have a problem and then to learn how to cope with it is a huge deal for me."
Eddie and Aaron were similarly positive about their experiences at the DTU.
"I learnt so much about myself and about my addictions, says Eddie. "Before this course I thought it was impossible to beat this."
It wasn't all plain sailing though. There were tough times for all three prisoners.
" 'Life story' was definitely the hardest part for me. We have to get up and tell our life story to the group and tell how addiction has affected our lives," says Aaron.
"I was really nervous about standing up and opening myself up like that, but it was OK. I found out how much many of us had in common. Others were like me and had experimented with drugs, and like me, it had gone too far and we ended up in prison.
"It showed me I wasn't alone in ending up in prison because of drugs. My offending was drug fuelled so it was good to go through a course like this with guys who know what you’ve been through and can support you."
Seeing how their addictions and offending had hurt others was a real wake up call for Eddie and Justin.
"We did role play where we put ourselves into our victim's or family's shoes to see how our actions have affected them. It was really tough. I was embarrassed and disappointed to see what I had done," says Justin.
"I hadn't thought about how I wasted my family's love all those years. I knew I had to wake up and get myself together for my son. I know I have missed too much of his life by being in prison," says Eddie.
Just as their lives and stories are different, each man has a different goal after prison. For Aaron, it's staying clean and never coming back.
"I know that getting high for a couple of hours is not worth the damage it does to my life and to others," he says. "We were shown what drugs can do to you in the long run and it isn’t pretty."
Justin wants to get into engineering following his release - his aim being to obtain his welding tickets and get into something where he can use his hands.
Eddie wants to ensure he's there to see his son grow up. "I've missed 10 years of his life and that isn't right. I also want to get a tattoo one day on my back that represents my old life. That way I know it's always behind me and when I look at it, I know I'm not going back there."
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ISSN 1178-8453