Being bullied at school because his father was foreign led a young man to a drug habit which saw him rack up 12 pending court cases against him in just six weeks.

Richard* said his darker skin made him the target of bullying at school, and eventually saw him turn to three friends who offered him drugs when he was just 13.

Now 45, Richard is one of the success stories of the San Blas therapeutic centre.

“When I was younger, I was the only one who was darker, so I used to feel different,” he told Times of Malta.

“Eventually, we’d start mixing alcohol with pills and then obviously heroin entered the picture. We were around 16 at the time. It was so easy to get hold of – all you needed was the right amount of cash.”

He and his three friends used to meet every day to take drugs until, one day, one of them was found dead as a result of an overdose.

“We obviously freaked out. I vividly remember crying while carrying his coffin in the church. But that evening, my two remaining friends and I met again to take heroin.”

Just a week later, one of them was also found dead of an overdose. And two years later, his only remaining friend from the group was arrested after taking part in a hold-up.

We’d start mixing alcohol with pills and then heroin entered the picture

Richard vowed not to take drugs with anyone else but still continued taking heroin.

Eventually, he got caught multiple times stealing money or gold from pawn shops to sustain his drug habit.

Unsatisfied by the high he got from heroin, he eventually started taking cocaine.

“I eventually started taking coke, and nowadays I think I did because it would have taken me longer to hit rock bottom. I started stealing everything in sight – I needed money all the time to try to sustain my drug habit,” Richard said, adding he had then accumulated 12 court cases in just six weeks because of multiple robberies.

His relationship with his wife and son also started deteriorating rapidly. “I used to hide my coke in the bathroom, but one time, I had just taken a hit and could not find where I had placed it,” he said.

“So I held a knife to my wife’s throat thinking she had hid the drugs from me for me to stop,” he added.

After two years, fear of incarceration and his wife’s insistence led him to Caritas’ outreach centre, where he was eventually offered a place in the San Blas Therapeutic Community in late December. But he turned it down.

“I refused – I did not want to be in San Blas for Christmas, New Year’s Day and my child’s birthday on December 27. I told myself I’ll remain clean and go in January,” Richard said.

He failed to keep his promises and found himself back behind bars on December 26.

“I spent the night of my son’s 15th birthday behind bars, and I never forgave myself after that.”

Two years after entering the San Blas therapeutic centre, Richard now has a full-time job as a chef and is working to rebuild his relationship with his son.

“I’m no longer afraid of becoming a drug addict – drugs just do not interest me anymore. Before, I had nothing to lose, now I am happy and busy, so my mind doesn’t turn to drugs anymore”.

*Name has been changed to maintain anonymity.