Heroin and cocaine delivered quicker than pizza in Greater Manchester, says ex-addict as drug deaths hit highest in 30 years

“It’s like being in hell. You wake up in the morning, you’ve got to score drugs. You take the drugs, you come back home and take more drugs,” sighs John. At 47-years-old, he’s spent more than half his life - 27 years - addicted to drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine.

After seven relapses, two stints in hospital, an overdose, a suicide attempt and watching friend after friend die from drug use, John Wilkinson is clean and now spends his days handing out life-saving treatment to people still in the throes of addiction. But he fears that drug addiction will only become more endemic, saying that demand is high and ‘you can get drugs delivered quicker than pizza’ on Greater Manchester’s streets.

It comes as the number of drug deaths in Greater Manchester reached a record 368 in 2021, revealed by new statistics published earlier this month. That figure is the highest since records began almost 30 years ago, having risen year-on-year during the pandemic.

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Drug treatment charities have labelled the surge as ‘deeply concerning’. Meanwhile, patients in recovery are reflecting on the sinister impact of the pandemic, as they share stories of how the isolation made them spiral them deeper into their addiction.

"It’s all just fun until you get addicted, from there, every day is a slog, just getting through the day is a full-time job", John, from Scholes in Wigan, tells the Manchester Evening News . Although he is now in recovery, he says he still ‘classes himself as an addict’.

Now, it seems easier than ever to get hold of highly addictive drugs, including cocaine and heroin, says John, who borrowed money and sold