Christian - Voices from the Street

Having a substance abuse problem in the countryside is different from the city: drugs are more expensive, harder to find, and treatment options are weaker. For Christian, the lack of treatment in Hjørring meant he had to move to Copenhagen just to survive.

His addiction began in school, where he was bullied. He found communities outside school and started taking amphetamine - it gave him back the confidence that bullying had taken away. Parties soon stretched from Thursday evening to Sunday morning. To finance a large cannabis habit, he began selling hash in his local area, and later also oxycontin, an opioid that was widespread in Hjørring - the town was called "the pill town". He became dependent on opiates and later heroin and cocaine. He and his girlfriend lost their apartment and slept on the street, in night shelters, and in cars.

The way out of addiction began when Street Lawyer helped him get treatment - a right he had, but couldn't access in Hjørring. He came to Vesterbro, where life became both better and harder. In 2017 he got a place in a shelter, and it became the turning point: there he learned about a treatment method that changed everything. Today he is free from his addiction and lives in his own apartment - something neither he nor his family believed was possible.