Russ Moor lost his home, family and freedom as a result of drugs. Now he wants to warn people of their dangers and spoke about his experiences to Evening Press reporter RICHARD EDWARDS.

RUSS MOOR was helped to move to York by the York Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (YACRO).

"I owe them a lot," he said, as he reflected on the fact that he came to York after serving 20 months in jail.

Russ, an addict, unwittingly introduced an undercover policeman to a dealer.

The dealer got a long sentence and was sent to the same prison as Russ.

Russ said: "He told everyone in there I had grassed, when I hadn't done anything of the sort. It made my life hell in there."

Prison marked the beginning of the end of several nightmare years for Russ.

He was first involved with substance misuse as a teenager, when he started sniffing glue to "blank out the misery" caused, he says, because he was being regularly beaten up by the same person.

By the time he was in his early 20s, Russ was using amphetamines, or speed, LSD and magic mushrooms.

He said: "I got a job meat packing in London, working really long hours. People were using speed to stay awake.

"One of the supervisors was dealing."

Russ lost his home and his job in London then moved back to his native Darlington.

He was still using speed - but by now he was injecting it.

He said some of the binges would seem endless, without food or sleep for weeks.

"Eventually you get psychosis," he said.

Russ married in 1995, and had two daughters. He was having longer spells off drugs and had found a job.

But in 1998 his world collapsed when his wife left him for another man.

He said: "I was trying to hold a job down and bring two kids up. Single mothers deserve medals, I don't know how they do it.

"I started using a bit of speed again, then a bit more. I couldn't sleep.

"Then someone gave me some heroin, said it would get me off to sleep. I ended up injecting speed and heroin together."

Spending £110 a day on his habit, and begging and stealing to feed it, Russ eventually ended up on the streets.

Then came the police "sting" and prison, where he spent five weeks getting off drugs.

"It was hell, but well worth it," he said.

He has since achieved a certificate in drug awareness studies and is now training to be a counsellor.

His daughters live with his mother.

"They are doing really well."

Russ welcomed events such as York College's drug awareness day and is happy to tell his story.

He has even returned to the prison where he served his sentence to speak to addicted inmates.

He said: "My message is stay away from drugs. Once they get hold of you that is it. You can't change the world, but if you can change just one person then you've started to make a difference."

Updated: 11:04 Wednesday, October 15, 2003