‘It destroyed everything’: From ‘average, suburban guy’ to meth addict

IT’S nefariously simple. One sentence typed on Craigslist can get drugs delivered to your door as fast as a pizza. A former addict has revealed all.

HE WAS an “average, suburban guy” who lost his career, marriage and friends after he tried one of the most insidious drugs. And looking for a few simple words online was all it took for his habit to develop into a destructive addiction.

A news.com.au investigation this week revealed the shocking extent of Australia’s online illegal drug trade through the Dark Web, but recovering meth addict Brian* said he lost control of his drug use when he realised he could score through a much more simple avenue.

The former IT consultant was savvy enough to use the virtual currency Bitcoin and Dark Web sites such as Agora to score drugs, but he said he discovered that it was much easier to use the popular classifieds advertising site Craigslist.

Brian, 34, of Melbourne, said dealers and users place thinly veiled ads in the personals section — and scoring meth was a cinch.

“There’s always pretty blatant ads on there advertising for ‘puff’, which is meth. I always knew I could place an ad online saying I was ‘out of puff’ or dealers would say that they had ‘ice-cold drinks’ for sale or stuff like that,” Brian told news.com.au.

“Generally, within an hour, I would have two or three dealers lined up.

“I could put an ad up at 2 or 3 in the morning; by 5am, I would be able to score.”

Brian started using meth in early 2012 in an attempt to stay awake longer so he could keep up with work demands.

“I had tried other things, but always stayed clean of meth and heroin. I tried meth once and thought it wasn’t bad. I have a tendency to go all in, and it got its claws in.

“I was just your average, suburban guy. I was not a truckie, I was an IT consultant.

“At my worst, I could down half a gram in a couple of hours and still function.

“I would stay up for seven or eight days at a time. I had very little to eat and dropped weight.”

Eventually he stopped going to work and his days became consumed with watching movies, surfing the internet and thinking about his next score.

“It all cruises along pretty nicely until it all starts to unravel,” Brian said.

Brian discovered how simple it was to score drugs online.

Quickly, his relationships with friends and family began to break down, and he eventually split up with his wife.

Soon, the drug drove him to become aggressive and chronically paranoid.

“I’m a big guy, so I didn’t have to use physical violence to get my way. But the threat was always there,” he said.

“I thought that people were chasing me and that I was being bugged, not by police, but by people who disliked me. It got to a point where I would take apart TVs, phones and computers.

“I spent the last three months of my addiction in a serious psychosis.”

After a nightmare two years of addiction, he eventually checked into a Thai rehabilitation retreat and managed to kick the habit.

With the support of his family, Brian reclaimed his life, reunited with his wife and he now has a daughter.

But his battle isn’t over. He continues to meet with a psychologist, psychiatrist and GP regularly, and is yet to return to work.

“I’m still just trying to get by, trying to stay clean,” he said.

Brian said the drug dealing on Craigslist was obvious and he was surprised the police didn’t do more to stop it.

“I’ve never met a dealer who was busted or a user who was caught,” he said.

“Being clean, I’m pretty anti-drugs now. I can’t see why (police) can’t be on there busting five to 10 dealers a day. There could be more done at the low level.”

Brian said there was nothing stopping teenagers from jumping online and scoring drugs.

By using the classifieds site Craigslist, Brian learnt he could score meth within a couple of hours.

Victoria Police said it was aware of websites selling illegal items online and monitored them based on intelligence.

“If offences are detected, police will investigate and prosecute accordingly,” a spokeswoman told news.com.au.

“The Victoria Police E-Crime Squad is constantly increasing their skills and training to make sure they keep up to date with new methodologies. Digital analysts also work closely with investigators to address these growing concerns.”

Now he is clean, Brian has a simple message for anyone tempted to try meth.

“Don’t even touch it once,” he said.

“And if you think you’ve got a problem, go and get the help; the help is out there. People are scared because they think they are going to get locked up in a psych ward, but there is always a way back.”

Victoria Police urge anyone with knowledge of criminal drug dealing to report it to their local police or anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

News.com.au has approached Craigslist for comment.

If you need help with drugs, contact Lifeline.

* Not his real name