HOOKED ON THE HABIT... forever? Mandy Saligari Once upon a time there was a little girl called Mandy.  Her future looked full of promise.   Success began early with a career amidst the bright lights, together with the assets that brings.  Golden girl.  Rich life.  Or not? Meet Mandy, listen to her story, and learn a lesson about real life.  How long can a mask be effective, how long can it sustain you, if on the inside there is only emptiness.  Emptiness, instinctively we all yearn to fill.  Ideally with fulfilment, but failing that, with anaesthetic.  Recreational drugs, hard drugs, soft drugs, each can, and sadly do, play a part in numbing discomfort.  Party drugs, pop drugs, drugs you swallow, drugs you inhale.  If you are prepared to hear the truth about these, listen to someone who knows. With extraordinary openness and candour, Mandy can bring an audience in to touch with the devastating consequences that drugs bring to users, abusers, families and friends.   “I didn’t have me.  And it was only a matter of time before I was dead on the outside as well as on the inside.”  Mandy’s words.  Bitter experience, highs and the excruciating lows, qualify Mandy as a deep well of knowledge, and as she speaks, inspiration, hope and good sense overflow and flood their way into the most narrow and blocked of channels.  Listen to her.  You will walk away so much richer.  Some of the questions Mandy will address Why do people take drugs, and what are the implications? What does addiction mean and what is the way out? What are the facts and the figures, and how do they translate into your life? How do you know when trouble is brewing? Where can help be found – and does it really work? Is drug taking badness, madness, sickness, elation or despair? There is no such thing as a hopeless case.  Education, information, awareness and willingness can produce the most beautiful, healthy and fulfilling future. Listen, and learn…