It is every mother's worst nightmare. It is no respecter of wealth, class, personality, background, education, or genes. It can strike without warning or expectation.
The consequences are devastating. Mothers end up having to bale out sons from hospitals, police stations, jail, the gutters. The sons steal from their own parents, lie, cheat, abuse their siblings, get involved in crime, run away, disappear, and turn into monsters quite unlike the sweet children they once were.
Mothers frequently end up turning their backs on their most beloved. They frequently end up turning them out of their own homes, locking the doors against them, moving away and changing their name to stop their sons from finding them.
Despair, hopelessness, rage, and frustration. This is not a pretty sight. There are no easy answers. And ignominious and lonely death is often the only end of the road.
These are the lives and prospects of the three women and their sons whom we'll be meeting in My Son, Drugs And Me. Drawn from a broad cross-section of society and representing a range of different backgrounds, these are the families torn apart by the terrible reality that their sons have become drug addicts.
My son, Drugs and Me from Ari Leaman on Vimeo.