Former heroin user Zoe Ward says she knows addicts with normal lives

Zoe Ward, who eventually ended up on the streets, spoke of addicts who have everyday lifestyles.

Her revelations follow a report from experts in Glasgow who said they have discovered long-term users who seem to be living normal lives.

But critics said the vast majority of users cannot function normally.

Ms Ward said she felt she had her life under control until she started to inject heroin and she also had to help her boyfriend pay for his addiction.

She said: "When I was chasing the dragon or smoking it off tin foil I successfully completed my post graduate course in journalism and went on to work on several newspapers.

"It wasn't until I was also supporting my boyfriend's habit that it became problematic, when I ran into money problems.

There is very much in Scotland a trend of herding us all like cattle into the system Zoe Ward Former heroin addict

"But I have known quite a lot of addicts that quite successfully have a mortgage, go to work every day, have 2.4 children and live quite a normal life.

"When I was working and doing my post graduate I literally turned up, got my drugs and went away again and didn't really get involved in the group of people that had anything to do with supplying me the drugs."

She told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I'm not saying that I think I performed as well as I could at work. But it was mainly due to problems of money and time and being able to go and score.

"Once those things mount up, it's difficult to get yourself out of that. When I initially started taking heroin, I would say I was a pretty moderate user, taking between �10 and �20 worth per day.

"But when I lost my job and moved down to England where it is a lot cheaper than it is in Scotland, that was when it escalated and that was when I started to use it intravenously. That was when my problems escalated."

Zoe ward has turned her back on heroin

Ms Ward said she eventually ended up begging on the streets and warned people not to try heroin.

She said: "You can walk a fine line for so long. But eventually the pressures become really difficult, what with it being an illegal drug, what with having to go out and find the money, especially if you're supporting a partner as well."

"But in the treatment of addicts, people have got to be treated as individuals and there is very much in Scotland a trend of herding us all like cattle into the system. I really don't think that works."

Ms Ward said her life is now improving.

"I'm coming down off my methadone and it's working really well and I'm in the middle of writing a book about my experiences on the street in Edinburgh," she said.