Meet the sober TikTok star from Oxfordshire challenging the stigma of cocaine addiction
ITV Meridian's Ciaran Fitzpatrick sits down with Hannah Viney who says she is inundated with messages from her followers worried about their drug use
A social media star from Oxfordshire says becoming addicted to cocaine caused her to lose jobs, missed out on family events and took over her life.
Hannah Viney had a successful interior design business but what began as a habit on nights out, soon became an addiction.
"I had no stop button," said Hannah.
"If I had to work the next day, I would either carry on or I would cancel work, maybe call in sick.
"I've lost jobs through taking drugs."
She said "I started off being a recreational drug user and it just being here, there and everywhere. My sessions would end at 3am, then they start ending at 6 and then they become into days and then I'm doing it on my own.
"Then I'm doing it at inappropriate events, and towards the end of my using, I'm four times a week.
"No stopping, no food, no sleep. I'm stripped of any characteristic that I have."
Now, after getting sober, she wants to raise awareness and help people battling it - saying it's a growing issue.
In just 3 months since posting online and only 6 months after getting sober herself, she’s gained 30,000 followers on the social media site TikTok, 10 million views and her podcast 'Class A People' is in the top 20 on Spotify’s self help charts.
"I started doing it [TikTok] day by day, and it helped me remain accountable" Hannah believes.
Her most watched video is one discussing how if you can't just drink and always need to pick up drugs, it is a problem.
Hannah said: "It's rife - this association with alcohol and cocaine.
"We don't see a difference between the two and because they do go hand in hand, people tend to do them both together. It's not being talked about, because it's normalised."
According to a study from the OECD, one in 40 adults (around 2.7% of the population) take cocaine.
This is more than any other country in Europe, and it is the second highest usage in the world. Only Australians use more.
According to the charity Turning Point Oxfordshire, addiction to cocaine can cause several social problems for users.
From financial woes to mental health problems, becoming reliant on the drug "means that often people who misuse cocaine can be unpredictable," said its clinical lead Dr Gabriel Shaya.
Dr Shaya added: "It increases so much stress for their families and their loved ones."
He says more and more people are coming to them for support with cocaine.
Hannah specifically wants to highlight how difficult it can be for people to give it up because of the connection with alcohol and cocaine.
"The reason why it's so difficult to give up both because your brain creates a habitual relationship with the two," she said.
"It actually creates a brand new compound called cocaethylene. This is a lot harder to give up than just alcohol or just cocaine, so having an understanding of why my body created a whole other drug and how it affects me, told me 'I had to give up both.'"
"When you've given yourself more of a high than just alcohol, it's just boring" said Hannah.
"So when I discovered that, I decided I had to tell others about it and I also wanted my recovery to be in real time."
She hopes her newfound platform can help spread the word about how damaging this drug can be.
If you or someone you know is in need of support - you can contact the following organisations:
Drug support
Alcohol issues
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