22 October 2010
Carl Stanley
With UK drink/drug service cuts and changes Carl Stanley asked Paul Ryder, Happy Mondays bassist and founder member his views.
What were services like when you started with the Happy Mondays, have they improved...?
"Well to be honest there wasn’t anything that I can remember; people were left to it really. Going into the 80's the first wave of Heroin hit the streets of Liverpool, close to me and my mates in Manchester, so it didn’t take long for it to make it to our City. Round this time I do remember a little about the 1st anti-Heroin campaign by the Government. So I remember the warning, but I couldn’t see where the help was coming from."
Spending cuts are now with us, what's your views on the spending cuts to our drink/drug services, what will the effects be..?
"Its needed more than ever, to cut back on these services would only mean less help, but to take any part of the drink/drug services away, and not replace it would be a blow. Its the counseling as much as the medication that’s important, and I feel it would be false economics as it would mean a rise in crime if there's less help out there."
The new Government term of "Recovery" meaning for example,.to have drink/drug service users show better improvements in the use of their medication and councilling by giving users time-lines to rehabilitate to, is this right, will it work..?
"Being more disciplined towards drink/drug service users is one thing, but any thought of time lines for users to rehabilitate too, would just not work, its about the individual and their problems, its complicated because there are normally many issues why some one would have a drink/drug problem, its complex stuff some times. To what extent the new more disciplined Recovery policy will include I don’t know, but no one can work to a dead line as far as rehabilitation is concerned, that’s daft."
The organisation of N.I.C.E say while Methadone plays its part in recovery, our drug services rely on its use to much, what do you think..?
"Well I have used several methadone prescriptions, and even though I went through it a number of times, at the time they did work as far as bringing me off street drugs, like now with the methadone, its staple use is to maintain some one, to keep them from using Heroin, which it did for me, but there was no follow up work, no councilling, you saw a doctor and went through the process of getting on a methadone prescription. But each time I got to that stage of maintaining myself on methadone, being stable, I would also feel totally lost, like an empty shell, not much in the way of feelings or thoughts, that’s where I could have used some follow up councilling, but as I said it wasn’t there. Methadone can keep you stable, but there is so much more work to be done when you get to the point of maintaining your self on your medication. The councilling is essential."
Paul's Story
“Personally I would like to see more beds provided for detox patients, one time when I went to Salford hospital for detox, there were 25 beds but only 2 beds for people from Manchester, and it was made up of people from towns and places outside MCR. I also had to wait some time before getting the help, I waited 8 weeks for a bed, and when I was finished detoxing in the Hospital I was signed over to the doctor, I would just turn up every so often ,and go through the motions, but again, no follow up work, and again I’m left feeling empty, once you get stable a whole load of other issues start, ....making the right decisions, using your time right with the right people, depression, changing your life style, all these things have to be dealt with, and most of these things require help and council ling.”“I live in LA now, and I have been clean 3years, though its great living here, like Manchester you see the drug problems all the time, its a place where plenty run away too hoping for a good life in what ever they do, yet loads of em end up on the street, I see it when I go down town, these are the people I can relate to, the people I feel I could help. The council ling I get out here is one reason why I’m here, along with all the other great things about LA, but I’m happy and the council ling works for me.”“At the moment the kids are on holiday, I’m currently working with Tina Waymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom club) who I have known and worked with since the early 90's, always been a big fan of her work, so yeah.things are great.”
Stay tuned to more musicians sharing their views in the coming days.
