At the height of his drug addiction, Mervin Canham stole DVDs from his mother and sold his clothes to get Mandrax. Now the recovering addict helps others to overcome their addictions.
The 28-year-old Canham, who has been drug-free for almost seven years, works as a counsellor at the Sharp Recovery Centre, in Johannesburg, where he counsels people who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex and gambling. Since his rehabilitation, Canham has trained as a recovery coach at U-ACT, a nonprofit organisation, and has completed other counselling-related courses.
Canham started smoking dagga at the age of 15 and later became addicted to Mandrax. He went to seven rehabilitation centres in seven years without success. Each time he would stay clean for a few months and then start using again.
"Every time I picked up drugs after cleaning up it was 10 times worse."
He finally quit drugs when he was 22: "Something just happened . I became humble."
U-ACT general manager Yolande Geyser said everyone who attended the organisation's recovery course in January had found work in counter-addiction.
"Recovering addicts struggle to find jobs and this helps them get back on their feet."
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