THREE reformed drug users have spoken out in the hope their stories can encourage more people to break free from their addictions and reconnect with their family and friends.
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Tahni Waters, Ashlee McLaughlin and Taylor Peachey have all been addicted to drugs, with ice being their drug of choice, but have come clean in recent weeks and months and want their experiences to help other people whose lives have been affected and on the road to ruin from their substance abuse.
For both Ms Waters and Ms Peachey, the fact they were about to lose all contact with their families was the catalyst for them to seek help and come clean.
"I was staying at my parent's which was 10 kilometres out of town and it gave me a chance to get off the drugs as it took away my access to them," Ms Waters said.
"This allowed me to reconnect with my parents, as if I kept using I don't think they could have put up with me much more."
For Ms Peachey, the fear of losing contact with her son was all she needed to come clean.
"I was on the verge of losing my son to Child Protection Services along with the loss of relationships with my family and friends," she said.
"That fear helped me change my ways and it was joining the Rough Diamonds group that really helped me."
Rough Diamonds was organised by local drug campaigner Lynn Field and aimed to empower women and help them address things like financial problems, addictions, self esteem issues and anger management.
The trio, along with Ms Field and Chanelle Day, also spoke passionately about the need for a rehabilitation centre at Dubbo to help people not just break their addictions, but keep them clean and help completely rid themselves of a life on drugs.
"Having to travel so far to rehab is very tough and you have limited contact with all your family and friends," Ms Waters said.
"The waiting lists for a lot of services are too long and you can lose your motivation to come clean."
Ms Peachey agreed and moved to endorse the work Ms Field was doing at Dubbo.
"Dubbo must get its own rehab centre and it needs to focus on all aspects of ridding people of addictions," she said.
"It's no good just getting people to stop using, it needs to be an ongoing thing that helps them repair relationships, helps them get jobs so they can move on with their lives.
"Having someone like Lynn is great as she is approachable and you know you're talking to a real person.
"We really need more funding to help Lynn and we need a lot more services in Dubbo to be available to people."
