"Use the bowl to answer nature’s call, not the floor." Clearly, Woodstock is no ordinary old people’s home. In fact, it caters exclusively to the needs of elderly drug addicts, and it’s quite normal to see one of the residents light up a joint.

A broken body
Ronald was still homeless just six months ago, but has since moved in to the Woodstock home in The Hague city centre. At 45, he is still relatively young, but says he feels much older. He has been using heroin, cocaine and LSD since his early twenties, and it shows. He feels weak, tires easily - he is a broken man. At Woodstock, he's not alone.

“I can see it quite clearly in a lot of people. Many have got it even worse than I do. They are physically completely worn out. They are permanently exhausted and extremely forgetful. I have noticed that I forget about a lot of things too.”

Many Woodstock residents use motorised wheelchairs or four-wheel walkers to get around; elderly drug addicts often need significantly more care than other old people.

Over the past ten years, the number of elderly drug addicts in the Netherlands has increased from 4,200 to 11,000. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction predicts that by 2050 one quarter of all drug addicts will be 65 or older. This number is expected to rise rapidly as a result of Europe’s ageing population.

Old at 45
Woodstock is considered an "old age home" even though many residents are not yet retirement age. Nils Hollenborg, a psychiatrist at Woodstock, says using drugs for many years makes people age much faster than normal.

“The age limit was put at 45. Maybe that is not really all that old, but it’s quite a respectable age after 20 years of drug abuse. You can tell just by looking at the residents, they are just worn out.”

Drugs for life
All Woodstock residents have been using drugs for many years and were unable to kick their habits, despite many rehab programmes. They receive specialised medical care and counselling, and are allowed to use drugs in the home.

Ronald can no longer live independently, which why he is living out his days in the Woodstock home, where – at the expense of his health insurance - he is being provided with a measured dose of heroin and methadone twice a day. He has quit drinking, but a few times a week does some coke on top of the other drugs. Can he still imagine a life without narcotics?

“No not really, I have tried to kick the habit often enough, but never succeeded. And I don’t think I ever will.”

Woodstock resident Ronald helping in the kitchen

Photo: Belinda van Steijn

No more crime
Ronald has to pay out of pocket for his occasional cocaine use. He earns this spending money by helping out in the kitchen, but says he also does it to keep busy - so he won’t be tempted to use more drugs. In the past, he served a number of prison sentences for theft and other crimes.

Nils Hollenborg says all residents are known to the police, but their criminal activities end when they move to Woodstock. From that moment on, there is no longer any need; the residents get their drugs for free and are offered opportunities to make extra money. As a result, they are less of a burden on the rest of society.

(gsh/hs/ae)