Like anyone at the front line, drugs counsellor Sandy Butterfield tells it like it is.

From the door of the Focus building on Union Street she can see dealers plying their trade -- all day, every day.

"Walk in any street and you can see drug trafficking. It's blatant, an open market,'' she says.

"The majority of clients at Westgate are on drug-related offences .

"Companies are having to implement drug-free workplace policies because of absenteeism. There are building workers who get paid one day and don't have five cents to their name the next day.

"One of the reasons we have an open market is that there are not enough Police.'' Countering that open market is the open door policy of Focus.

"We are the first step from the street. We're open at least 12 hours a day,'' Ms Butterfield says.

More than 20 visitors a day come in -- some just want to hang out but many want to get back on their feet once they have made the first stride in the 12 steps of the Focus' philosophy.

"They must admit they are powerless in the face of their addiction -- that their lives have become unmanageable. We spend a lot of time on the first step,'' she explains.

However, success rates are low. Asked how many stay clean Ms Butterfield says: " Statistics show it is one in ten in the world. It's a reality check. Client realise recovery is a lot of work.'' Visitors to the centre can get group therapy and join spiritual discussions.

"The first step is to sort out the clients immediate needs. We get them financial assistance if they haven't got jobs or if they are homeless we refer them to Harbour Light.'' And there is also practical help for those well down the road to recovery, with clients being taught computer skills at the centre which is funded by the Council Partners Charitable Trust.

This also works as an incentive for those who have just arrived at Focus.

"They might see people they used to know who are looking good now and getting jobs,'' Ms Butterfield says.

"Employers ring here and we send those who are clean. They see other people getting fixed up and they want what they have.'' Focus is not afraid to mix in alternative therapy with practical help.

In-house acupuncture done by Kuni Frith has proved popular as a stress reliever and a way to dampen addiction cravings.

Ms Butterfield gets annoyed with those that think beating drugs is just about willpower.

She says: "An Alcoholics Anonymous speaker once said he felt like saying to people who believed it's easy: `Here, take this laxative, but don't go -- just use your willpower'.

"Many people grow up with fathers who drink every day, who fall down drunk so the children think this is okay.

"Many of my clients started smoking marijuana at the age of ten, 11 and 12.

Many of my clients started drinking at that age, it's a progression.

"But it's deemed okay by society. Most of the people here have several addictions.

"Many users started because they were selling it. They always said they wouldn't touch it, some got into to it out of simple curiosity.

"We should send addicts to schools to tell them what it's like. People don't know the damage it does to their bodies and brains.

"A lot of cocaine users are missing teeth. I think it infects their calcium.

"And the damage to the brain makes it all the harder for the Focus team to pass on their message.

"Their short-term memories are shot so they don't remember hearing what we've told them.

"It's frustrating for those who are really trying. They feel they should be better in a couple of weeks, but it can take a full year for the body to start repairing itself.'' Each drug presents its own problem, Ms Butterfield points out.

"Heroin users have to deal with their withdrawal first -- their body is in repair. They are suffering cramping, diarrhoea, vomiting and aches.

"Cocaine is psychological -- people suffer from depression.'' Those that relapse now have another option open to them -- a 90-day retreat at Darrell's Island.

The puritan programme at Camp Spirit sees the 12 clients rising early for a run. Meditation and intensive group therapy is mingled with manual work on the upkeep of the island.

"It's about learning why you use,'' Ms Butterfield says. "People talk about their feelings -- perhaps for the first time in their lives. A lot of our clients are inhibited about expressing their feelings.

"If they know what their emotions are when then want to use drugs, they can learn the high risk situations and get help. If walking down Court Street is a trigger or talking to somebody you used to share drugs with is a trigger, then you can cut out that activity.'' Both Narcotics Anonymous and Focus base their programmes on the 12 steps developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Although the steps make big play of God both groups stress that it is a non-denominational God and atheists are welcome.

1. We admit we are powerless over our addiction - that our lives are unmanageable.

2. We believe a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.

3. We will turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him.

4. We will make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. We'll admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. We're ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. We humbly ask Him to remove all our shortcomings.

8. We will make a list of all persons we have harmed and we will become willing to make amends to them all.

9. We will make direct amends to such people wherever possible except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. We will continue to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, admit it.

11. We will seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps we'll try to carry this message to addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Alternative treatment: An unidentified patient receives aricular acupuncture, just one of the alternative treatments available to former addict trying to control their cravings.