I drank 30 bottles of booze and snorted 3.5 grams of cocaine a night then I turned my life around

A woman who spent years “addicted to cocaine” and would drink up to 30 bottles of booze a night has turned her life around – and says she is proof anyone can get clean.Charlene Chandler, now 36, snorted three-and-a-half grams of the Schedule II drug daily for 22 years – as well as smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol.Having grown up in foster care, the mom-of-four says she used substances as a coping mechanism, and her tolerance would constantly go up. She’d neck up to 30 miniature bottles of vodka and Bacardi – her preference when going to parties.But she decided to get clean after meeting her fiance, 31 – and turned to her church support group for help. Now, she’s preparing to start her own business alongside getting her level three diploma in counselling – and will be marrying her fiancé on December 23. She says she wants to “empower” other women – and wants them to “know your past doesn’t define you”.Charlene, a small business owner from Portsmouth, Hants., said: “In the care system – I turned to drugs because I couldn’t get access to mental health services. “The partying started off as a bit of fun, it wasn’t a regular thing. “But, it quickly became excessive. “It descended into full-on alcohol and drug abuse – I could drink 30 bottles of alcohol in one night.“Getting clean was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through.But life is just better – I’m excited about everything I’ve got coming up.”Charlene was immediately placed in an incubator after birth, and was quickly diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).She was then taken into care at the age of two.She lived with her grandparents between the ages of five and 13 – and was eventually placed back into the care system after her behavior became too “erratic.”Charlene said: “There was a care order placed on me when I was two. “I went to go and live with my grandparents – but I was very rebellious, growing up. �...

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Publisher: New York Post

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