To the About Time newspaper team,

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My name is Michelle, this is my second time in prison. I’m 30 years old from W.A.

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At the start of this prison leg, I struggled with the harsh reality (that I knew right from the start) that there are no friends in drugs. I’m currently in prison for drug offending and the people I spent most of my time with before incarceration were drug buddies. In the early days of this leg I wrote this:

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There are no friends in drugs.

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One of the hardest lessons, from being part of the drug scene then going to prison, is the feeling of loneliness, withdrawing and coming down, you miss your mates.

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You forget that during your early days on the drugs, you always told yourself, “these people are not my friends.”

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Time goes by, you call them mates and you forget what you said at the start.

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Now you’re in jail, life goes on, you know you’ll be forgotten.

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Remember right at the start, you knew it was only for the drugs.

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You try to make contact, not knowing why, it’s still sad, when you realise, you’ve been forgotten. Your “mates” have moved on; but you’re still here.

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After all, right at the start, remember you told yourself:

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These people are not your friends. Cos there are no friends in drugs.

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Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.