A plumber lost his job and home due to the ravages of monkey dust. Two years ago Simon was introduced to the drug and it wasn't long before he started taking it on a daily basis.
As a result he has lost everything. He was once living in a two-bedroom house but is now sleeping rough in a tent.
The 42-year-old said: “I got into dust, monkey dust, lost everything, and now I’m on the floor. I’m still taking dust. It’s all we do all day, rush around, try to get fed and try to get hold of dust, because it’s so addictive.
“They offer it to you. It’s homeless people, trying to make ends meet, dealing. People push it, they want to get you hooked, and then they exploit you.”
The government is reviewing whether it should move the drug from Class B to Class A, a decision that Simon strongly backs. He said: “It’s Class A all the way for me, duck. I think it should be Class A plus, plus plus.
"As in, get this dust, it’s so good, you’re going away for the rest of your life, because it’s in plenty of supply. I think it should be available on prescription, that way it would cut all the dealers out. They could give it controlled to me, and I’m being serious, I could run this country better than the prime minister.”
Simon spends around £20 a day on monkey dust. “When you take it, your vision comes out, your vision is 20/20, it lasts about three hours. I’ve done heroin and crack cocaine but dust is just the next level. It takes you to the next dimension," he told Stoke on Trent Live.
He continued: “My theory is, if you’ve got a bad personality, if you’re unstable and nasty, the dust will have a very nasty effect on you, it’ll control you, you’ll set fire to someone or attack someone. Like me, I got attacked this week.
“I was in a house in Newcastle when some guy came into the house who doesn’t live there and started attacking me. It was unprovoked, he’s a drug dealer, dealing everything. I got out of the house and then he attacked me again in that little underground park in Newcastle. Some people stopped him. A lot of people know and look out for me, they tell me it’s sorted. He will find that out soon if he hasn’t found out already.
“This time next year, I’d like to be off the dust and be a rock star in America as I can sing very well. Singing gives you confidence, power and self-esteem. Hopefully I’ll be able to get somewhere soon.”
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