Amy Winehouse's Father Talks About Improving Drug Addiction Treatment
Mitch Winehouse, the father of troubled singer Amy Winehouse, said he feels guilty about not being able to prevent his daughter’s addiction to drugs. He said the “over-riding sentiment” that he and other families of addicts feel is guilt in not being able to protect them.
Giving evidence to a home affairs select committee inquiry into the cocaine trade, the 58-year-old former taxi driver told MPs how drug addiction treatment could be improved, using his own experiences as background information.
“Almost every one of the families who have a relative who is an addict feel that they could have done better. I've felt exactly the same,” he said. “People have said to me, ‘Why didn't you section [Amy], why didn't you lock her in a room?'”
“All of this is of course ridiculous. We were very fortunate. We were able to afford the best doctors and rehabilitation services. But for most families of addicts there are very few facilities available. I find it very frightening.”
He continued, “People are committing offences just so they can get the chance of getting treatment. There are very little treatments for those who just walk in off the street and say they need help. There is a period of a year before treatment can commence for non-offending addicts.”
Mr. Winehouse, who is working on a documentary to highlight the issue, also said that Amy, 26, has been clean for a year.
He previously told the London Evening Standard: “Last year the Government spent £400 million on drug rehabilitation, yet if anybody wants to come off drugs voluntarily there's very little help available to them.”
“The NHS has a one-year waiting list. The vast majority of the money is being taken up by the criminal justice system—such as burglars who are offered residential treatment as an alternative to a spell in prison,” he continued.
He said he did not want to focus on his daughter, but added: “Obviously I wouldn't be in this position, with politicians and parents of addicts phoning me up, if it wasn't for who I am. But this goes far beyond celebrity drug culture. If you can afford to pay to go into the Priory, you're going to get the finest treatment and the best results. But if you can't, what do you do then?”
