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Personal stories addiction women 50+, heroin addiction, cannabis addiction, ice addiction, prescription drug addiction, OTC addiction, men & women 18-60, women 50+, personal stories addiction men aged 30-39, Personal stories addiction men aged 50+, Personal stories speed addiction, personal stories ice addiction

Women Aged 50+

Here you’ll find participants’ accounts of living with addiction, dependence or a drug habit. The people and stories were carefully selected to highlight diversity in backgrounds and experiences. While this website is not able to tell every possible story in Australia, it can show just how different people and their experiences are. In the stories can be found details of the many important concerns and circumstances our participants negotiated in living with addiction, dependence or a drug habit.

The stories presented here rely on participant reports of drug use and related health issues. Some experiences may not conform to medical definitions or medical advice, but notes have been added in such cases to clarify key points.

While these narratives were written from the interview transcripts and rely on participants’ own words, some aspects have been paraphrased to improve coherence and readability. In making these changes we have worked hard to remain faithful to the original meaning and intentions. Some experiences may also be presented in other sections of the website, using more detailed quotations.

Pauline
Experiences of cannabis addiction from women aged 50-59
Pauline started smoking cannabis daily in her mid-teens and continued during her twenties while at university.
Amy
audio recording, prescription drugs, cannabis, cannabis habit, depression, heroin, men 40-49, drinking, alcohol problem, ice addiction
As a teenager growing up in the suburbs, Amy felt like she didn’t fit in with the young people in her neighbourhood.
Grace
Experiences with heroin women aged 50-59, heroin
Grace began taking heroin in her twenties and has taken it fairly regularly since then.
Helen
Experiences with heroin women aged 50-59
When Helen was in her twenties, she ‘drifted into’ a ‘population of people’ who took heroin and began taking it herself.
Rachel
Experiences with heroin women aged 50-59
Rachel began taking heroin, cannabis and cocaine in her late teens, and says her consumption ‘escalated’ in her early twenties.
Annemarie
audio recording, prescription drugs, cannabis, cannabis habit, depression, heroin, men 40-49, drinking, alcohol problem, ice addiction
When she was in her early twenties, Annemarie experienced anxiety and panic attacks, and was prescribed benzodiazepines.