Former professional footballer tells Lanarkshire pupils how he threw away top career by taking drugs

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A former professional footballer has now delivered a talk about the dangers of drug use to every pupil at an Airdrie high school.Ex-Motherwell FC player, Colin McNair, was joined by Hamilton Accies director Colin McGowan, in dellivering the talk to the last class of second year pupils at St Margaret's High last week.He has been visiting the school since last August speaking to different year groups each time about the dangers of addiction, speaking in depth about his own lived experience and how taking drugs led to him being on the streets of Glasgow.The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.

Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android The kids also heard how, at the height of his playing career, McNair lost everything after indulging in drug use and hitting rock bottom but how he then successfully came through recovery to a transfixed audience.

McNair told youngsters: "I was taking drugs every day of the week."I was feigning injury so I didn’t have to play football, until it all fell apart and I lost everything.“I owed dealers money left, right and centre, and turned to crime to pay for my habit - I eventually ended up in jail.”He then delivered statistics revealing the devastation drugs are causing in communities, at one point asking the pupils for a show of hands of how many of them knew someone in the grasp of addiction.He told the crowd: "It's