It’s been estimated that addiction costs London $243 million per year and some of this cost is due to the 1,500 homeless people, of which 40-percent are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness. For this population only 360 shelter beds are available on any given night.

But, addiction isn’t confined to the homeless population as it cuts across all ethnic and socio-economic barriers from poor to middle class to upper class. Even legendary Londoner and rock superstar Eric Clapton has written his autobiography outlining his own addictions to heroin and alcohol. The book tells about how his addiction led him to a brush with suicide to escape his own personal pain.