‘A funny, beautiful and incredibly bright young girl’: Mum’s tribute to daughter lost to addiction

A mother who lost her “funny, beautiful and incredibly bright” daughter to ketamine addiction has made a heartbreaking plea for others affected by the drug to seek support.

Addressing a full Portsmouth City Council chamber, Sarah Green, founder of the H23 Foundation, which provides support and raises awareness of ketamine-related harm, spoke about the impact addiction can have on families.

She was speaking in support of a motion calling on the council to adopt a harm reduction approach to drug and alcohol addiction.

Ms Green’s daughter, Honor, died in February this year after taking her own life following an eight-year-long addiction to ketamine.

She said Honor was a “funny, beautiful and incredibly bright young girl” who first tried ketamine when she was 15 years old.

She said that “like many people her age” she believed the drug, a dissociative anaesthetic, was “harmless”.

She said that “over time it became a very painful and extremely well-hidden addiction” and “she could see no way out of which ultimately led to taking her own life”.

“Ketamine is so cheap, so easily accessible and widely available and dangerously seen as low risk,” Ms Green added.

“It affects mental health, education and employment and it is costing lives, not just theirs but the lives of the families like mine affected.

“Young people using ketamine need to be reached early with honest information and a clear route to help, at the moment too many stay hidden until the damage is too far gone.”

She called for ketamine support to be named as a specific priority for young people, education about the drug in secondary schools, clearer routes into treatment and support, and “meaningful involvement” from people with lived experience.

In closing, she said she “can’t change what happened to my daughter and as a family we now have to live in the world of pain and heartbreak forever. But the decisions made in this chamber can change what happens to the next young person and potentially prevent a family from living in this hell.”

Tabling the motion, Councillor Hannah Brent said it was about highlighting “the son or daughter of a family who they’re desperately worried about” or the “parents who lie awake wondering if they will get a phone call in the middle of the night”.

“If there are practical ways to prevent unnecessary deaths, reduce suffering and help people move towards healthier safer lives then we should be willing to explore them.”

She argued that ketamine had “no stereotypical user”, with “people from all walks of life” due to the false belief it is a safe alternative to other drugs.

She said people struggling with addiction were taking drugs to “escape pain, trauma, stress or social challenges and they don’t know how to cope.”

Councillor Spencer Gardner, alongside Councillor Kate Dorrington, tabled an amendment to reflect that “there is already a great deal of positive work happening in Portsmouth.

“This amendment is about supporting and strengthening that work, and ensuring we have a co-ordinated response, and in particular to the challenge posed by ketamine.”

Cabinet member for community wellbeing, health and care Councillor Matthew Winnington said it was vital that addiction was treated as a “public health issue rather than a criminal issue”.

He added that ketamine was “absolutely rampant and the effects are utterly terrifying because they’re life long – you have bladder that is constricted forever, the only way to treat it is through surgery”.

He added that, in extreme cases, teenagers were being forced to use catheters or colostomy bags.

Councillor Leonie Oliver shared a poignant story about her cousin, who died two years ago after battling heroin addiction for many years, which “played a significant part of her death”.

“When you love someone who is struggling with addiction, you don’t simply stop caring when things get difficult, you keep hoping, you keep trying an keep believing that somehow one day things will be different.”

Councillor Nick Dorrington commended fellow councillors for sharing their personal experiences.

He shared his own experiences of addiction, which stripped him of his “home, self respect, future and my hope”.

“Addiction does not just affect the person that suffers from it, it affects mostly those who love them the most.

“The pain is often the cost of love – a father waiting for that dreaded phone call, a partner wondering where they are, whether they have eaten, or whether they are still alive.

“They wake up worrying, they go to bed worrying and when the phone rings at any hour, their hearts sink.

“When people hear the words harm reduction, some think it means accepting addiction or turning a blind eye to drug use it does not. It means reducing preventable harm, preventing unnecessary deaths and helping people stay alive long enough to access support, treatment and ultimately recovery.

“Too many people have been made to feel ashamed to ask for help, because of the stigma attached to addiction and mental health.

“Addiction can affect everybody, it does not care about your background, education, income or family.

“As a former homeless addict I can stand here today as a councillor and a cabinet member – perhaps we should all think twice before deciding somebody’s future based solely on their lowest moments.”

The Lord Mayor, Cllr Abdul Kadir, described the discussion as “very moving” and said he was “honoured to chair this very important motion”, which reflected “who we are as a city”.

Bristol’s approach

Bristol City Council adopted a City of Harm Reduction approach in July 2026. The strategy recognised trauma-informed approaches, partnership working, improved access to treatment and recovery, and involving of people with lived experience.

Specific harm reduction services include needle exchange programmes, the provision of naloxone, drug safety checking as well as testing and vaccination for blood borne viruses.

Additionally, it covers the review and audit of deaths to those in and out of treatment “to enable thematic analysis and support future prevention focus”.

Help available

The H23 Foundation website signposts many resources available to those who need support, know someone that does, or is in recovery.

Ketamine Anonymous offers support through physical and online meetings using the 12-step program.

Portsmouth’s Drugs and Alcohol Support Service provides free and confidential drug and alcohol services to young people in Portsmouth, find out more information here.

The Portsmouth Recovery Hub is a working partnership between the NHS and The Society of St James charity which provides specialist advice and support tailored to individual needs.

Alcoholics anonymous Southdown intergroup lists all their meetings online, with several happening across Portsmouth on a weekly basis. The same applies to cocaine anonymous and narcotics anonymous.

Portsmouth also has The Silkworth Project, a supported housing scheme for addicts or those trying to rebuild their lives after addiction.