ISSUE NO. 19
February 2026
Donate Here

Letters

There Are No Friends in Drugs

By
Michelle

Michelle writes from a prison in WA.

Tymofii Tarasov via Unsplash

To the About Time newspaper team,

My name is Michelle, this is my second time in prison. I’m 30 years old from W.A.

At the start of this prison leg, I struggled with the harsh reality (that I knew right from the start) that there are no friends in drugs. I’m currently in prison for drug offending and the people I spent most of my time with before incarceration were drug buddies. In the early days of this leg I wrote this:

There are no friends in drugs.

One of the hardest lessons, from being part of the drug scene then going to prison, is the feeling of loneliness, withdrawing and coming down, you miss your mates.

You forget that during your early days on the drugs, you always told yourself, “these people are not my friends.”

Time goes by, you call them mates and you forget what you said at the start.

Now you’re in jail, life goes on, you know you’ll be forgotten.

Remember right at the start, you knew it was only for the drugs.

You try to make contact, not knowing why, it’s still sad, when you realise, you’ve been forgotten. Your “mates” have moved on; but you’re still here.

After all, right at the start, remember you told yourself:

These people are not your friends. Cos there are no friends in drugs.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

To the About Time newspaper team,

My name is Michelle, this is my second time in prison. I’m 30 years old from W.A.

At the start of this prison leg, I struggled with the harsh reality (that I knew right from the start) that there are no friends in drugs. I’m currently in prison for drug offending and the people I spent most of my time with before incarceration were drug buddies. In the early days of this leg I wrote this:

There are no friends in drugs.

One of the hardest lessons, from being part of the drug scene then going to prison, is the feeling of loneliness, withdrawing and coming down, you miss your mates.

You forget that during your early days on the drugs, you always told yourself, “these people are not my friends.”

Time goes by, you call them mates and you forget what you said at the start.

Now you’re in jail, life goes on, you know you’ll be forgotten.

Remember right at the start, you knew it was only for the drugs.

You try to make contact, not knowing why, it’s still sad, when you realise, you’ve been forgotten. Your “mates” have moved on; but you’re still here.

After all, right at the start, remember you told yourself:

These people are not your friends. Cos there are no friends in drugs.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

Sistas, Support Each Other!

By Anonymous

This letter is to remind you all that, as Sistas, we need to be there for one another to raise women up.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 23

2 MIN READ

Strip Searches

By Nikita

It’s daunting enough when you get arrested by police, then placed into custody and thrown into a cell. Then you have to go through a degrading strip search.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 23

1 MIN READ

If It’s Broken, Then Fix It

By Andrew

I’ve spent most of my adult life behind bars, and I’m not proud to say it. It’s been such a bloody waste.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 23

3 MIN READ

Routine is Good, Not Bad

By Dane

Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in prison can relate to the concept of prison rituals and routines.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 23

3 MIN READ

Welcome to About Time

About Time is the national newspaper for Australian prisons and detention facilities

Your browser window currently does not have enough height, or is zoomed in too far to view our website content correctly. Once the window reaches the minimum required height or zoom percentage, the content will display automatically.

Alternatively, you can learn more via the links below.

Donations via GiveNow

Email

Instagram

LinkedIn

Help Us Keep Publishing About Time

Without About Time, I don’t know where I would be – Mark, from a prison in Victoria

We need your help so that we can print and distribute the paper to every person in every prison for at least the next year. We value whatever you can spare, no matter how big or small.

Australia’s prison population is growing, and our many prisons are spread far and wide.

We need your help so that we can print and distribute the paper to every person in every prison for at least the next year. We need your help to cover postage for anyone who sends us a letter from the inside.

We value whatever you can spare, no matter how big or small.