WATCH: Galashiels singer opens up on struggles with addiction to mark Overdose Awareness Day
A singer-songwriter from the Scottish Borders is opening up on his struggles with prescription painkillers in bid to encourage more people to seek help for their addictions.
Graham Godsell was given the drug Dihydrocodeine after developing an abscess on his tooth.
He's now seven years clean, and told us attending Borders in Recovery's weekly music group has helped.
The local musician's set to perform his song Addicted at an event at Douglas Bridge (outside Argos) on Saturday, August 31st, between 12pm and 2pm.
It's being organised by a series of support groups to mark International Overdose Awareness Day.
Visitors will also be able to find out more about how to save the life of someone having an overdose.
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Graham - also known as "G" for short - told Greatest Hits Radio: "The music has helped more than anything - better than any drug.
"Once I got clean and sober, my mind opened up a lot and I just started writing song after song. It helps because you can just put all your emotions and fears and feelings into the lyrics."
Earlier this month, we reported the number of people who died due to drug misuse in Scotland has risen sharply over the last year - although it fell slightly in the Borders.
Looking forward to his performance this weekend, Graham added: "At lot of people do know me here; they know that I was a bit of a bad state with the drug years ago, so I'm hoping they can see that if I've made my way out of it and got a better life, anybody can - and there's support available."
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