DAYS IN THE DEATH OF FRANCIS X He was a pupil at one of England's top public schools, when he first got on to drugs. At first he found it stimulating, but after that, life, as he says, became just one long downhill. When he gave this interview to Linguapress, he was 25 years old and his doctor was giving him just three months to live. Here is Francis X’s story. FRANCIS I've been using drugs now since I was fourteen. SPECTRUM How did you get on to them ? FRANCIS Young kid’s rebellion, you know, and then I found I couldn’t stop. SPECTRUM What are you on at the moment ? FRANCIS I get, um, a prescription, a daily prescription from the general hospital, of the equivalent of ten diconal tablets in a liquid form, a syrup form called dipipenone, which is a morphine substitute. And I get 25 ml. of methadone linctus, which is a heroin substitute. Plus 1 get 50 valium a week, and other odd sedatives and so on, to keep me going. SPECTRUM You were shooting speed and morphine and... FRANCIS Yeah everything. I haven’t had an injection in over 2 years — not for want of trying, but because I’ve wrecked all my veins. This time I’m going in : 6 or 7 weeks it'll be now. I’m goin’ in, and this time I’m gonna come off. If it's not too late. SPECTRUM You really think you‘re going to come off this time. FRANCIS This time it has to work ! But it will need a miracle. SPECTRUM What would you say to other people who're starting off on drugs ? FRANCIS I'd say there’s nothing wrong with pot; and there’s nothing wrong with a pint of beer with your lunch, or a couple of pints at night; but anything you need to take you through the day is wrong. And... you know... heroin doesn’t get rid of trouble, it just amplifies it — yeah — and heightens it. So when the heroin wears off, the trouble, that you had before it, comes twice as big as it was, and so on and so on... you know, I’ve never had a full-time job for more than 3 months.... because of drugs. I went back to college and studied for A levels (I got economics and maths): that was at 18, so I was 20 then (when I got my A levels). Still can’t get a job, with a drugs record....... You can say «no no» when they ask you; and then they find out, and you get the sack — which is what happened on one occasion — Or you tell the truth, and they say «Sorry the job’s filled». So drugs..... is one way only. It goes up for the first bit, and then it’s down; and when you reach the bottom, there’s no way up. SPECTRUM Do you think you've reached the bottom ? FRANCIS I've really reached the bottom. I’ve been given three months at the most to live — by the doctors — That's why I’m going in for 6 or 7 weeks. SPECTRUM You're going into hospital ? FRANCIS My stomach’s ruined, my veins are ruined, I've got thrombosis. I’ve got a varicose vein. I’m covered in scars. I’m ashamed of what’s underneath all these clothes. I mean, look at the clothes I’m wearing on a day like today ! SEPCTRUM How old are you ? FRANCIS 25. I’ve been using them for 7 years. I’ve done just about everything that a human being can possibly do. It’s despicable.... SPECTRUM O.K, well let’s hope that this time..... FRANCIS I know things‘ll get worse and worse and worse, and living on the dole in bed and breakfasts, it’s a trap in itself, because you can’t move anywhere for more than a week. You’ve got to come back and sign on again. And I’m in a worse trap. I’ve got to be here every day to pick up my dose of medicine. I can’t even go as far away, you know, as London, ‘cos then I’m stuck. I’ve gotta come back for my prescription every day, 'cos they can’t transfer it. So my advice is, yes, steer clear ! Alcohol too ! It’s not funny, and it’s not clever, nd it’s not big. And I certainly don’t feel proud of the mess that I’ve made of myself, or the grief that I’ve caused my family and friends, who’ve seen me go down from eleven stone to seven and a half, this time round, inside two years. SPECTRUM: well let’s hope you manage all right this time. Thankyou. FRANCIS Thanks a lot ! God bless ! WORDS : Public school : private school - prescription : a note from a doctor - linctus : syrup - shoot : inject - speed : an amphetamine mixture - for want of : because I don't have - wreck : destroy - pot: haschich - A level : final school diploma - get the sack : lose your job - varicose vein : a disorder of the blood system - scar : sign of an old cut or wound - despicable : terrible - on the dole : with no work - steer clear : do not touch (drugs) - mess : bad situation.