Anita Korhonen’s book Elossa jälleen – Erään äidin huumeraportin uudet sivut was recently published by Kirjapaja.

One mother got her daughter back after more than 20 years of drug-fuelled torment.

A COUPLE of years ago, Anita Korhonen’s life took a new turn as a more-than-20-year-long battle drew to a close. Korhonen’s daughter Tiina sent her a message from London with some good news.

The contact stood in stark contrast with ten earlier messages, in which Korhonen was informed that her daughter was in jail, in custody, or penniless. Sometimes, months would pass without so much as a word from Tiina.

”I was sceptical to begin with, as on other occasions I’d been fed lies. But this time nothing short of a miracle had occurred: my daughter had survived 22 years of drug addiction,” says Korhonen, 66.

Korhonen’s book Elossa jälleen – Erään äidin huumera-
portin uudet sivut (”Alive Again: An Update to One Mother’s Report on Drugs”) was recently published by Kirjapaja.

Tiina began to use drugs at the age of 16, after falling for a man a few years her senior. The object of her affection turned out to be a cocaine dealer.

Rehabilitation courses and periods of treatment offered no sustained relief. Instead, the girl slipped into a dangerous spiral lasting more than two decades.

Watches pawned

By her reckoning, Korhonen has sent around 20 watches to her daughter over the years, in order to help Tiina turn up to meetings on time. They have all disappeared. The same happened to tens of certificates and copies of official documents, as well as thousands of euros.

”The whole drugs world is based on the idea that small things are unimportant. Life is one big party of unreality, all papers are lost and all promises are forgotten.”

The daughter’s salvation was a local Baptist mission who took her off the streets and gave her a place to stay in a hostel. Korhonen feels that Finnish society has not taken a sufficiently clear, negative stance against drug use.

”If the mission hadn’t put her up in a hostel, she would have died on the streets. If help isn’t offered when it’s needed, everything goes down the drain. Drug users are not lepers. It’s not infectious.”

Today, Tiina is doing well. Korhonen flew to London to meet her daughter, where she still lives and studies. The pair are in regular contact, and Korhonen is also in contact with her granddaughter. But the family still has a very long way to go.

”Tiina is still clean. But she needs to pull herself together and find herself. She’s lost 22 years of her life from the age of 16, but she’s managed to make a solid fresh start.”

Tears and swearing

Korhonen’s new book is a sequel to her first one, Kirjeitä Tiinalle (”Letters to Tiina”), which appeared in 2004. Following publication of the book, Korhonen received tens of letters from people telling of their own child’s or sibling’s battle with drugs.

Their stories gave Korhonen the strength to follow up on her first book.

”Naturally, it’s been extremely difficult to talk about this. While writing the book, I cried, wailed and swore. But in the end I decided that this book could help those thousands of parents who suspect their children of using drugs.”

Anita Korhonen has more than 20 years of fear and hope behind her. She now believes that her daughter has broken free from the grip of drugs. But the family is still taking things one day at a time.

”Many times I’ve wondered why it had to be me and my daughter. At some point I remember wishing that I’d had many children, so at least the other ones would have been well and normal. But as things didn’t turn out that way, I’ve had to tell myself that this is my lot in life.”

LAURA KOLU – S T T
MAT THEW PARRY – HT
Lehtikuva - Tanja Mikkola