Joe South is a name that many people in Oxford were familiar with in the 1950s and 1960s when he gained notoriety for all the wrong reasons.

Joe, inset, was born in Oxford in 1944. During his teenage years he became addicted to drugs and promiscuous sex. Later, he spent 13 years as a registered heroin addict.

But he managed to break free of his drugs habit in 1981 and went on to establish Rhoserchan, an addictions rehabilition centre in Aberystwyth in Wales.

Now Joe, who is 63, has written his memoirs, Poppy Dream — The Story of an English addict. The book, which features plenty of scenes in Oxford where Joe grew up, is only available on a print-on-demand basis at the moment from the website joespoppydream.com But London agent Andrew Lownie liked the gritty, honest tale when he read it and the writer is still hoping to secure a publishing deal.

“I'm glad I went down the print-on-demand route because then the book can gain a reputation just through people talking about it," Joe told The Guide.

“I didn't want to write a kitsch, recovery story, I wanted to look back at all the hurt and pain and write something that was real.

“I love Oxford and I felt privileged to have been brought up there. Looking back, I think I was born hugely sensitive, without the chemical wherewithal to cope with life and all its harshness.

“When the alcohol and heroin came along it was almost as if it made life bearable.

“I think it (becoming addicted to drugs) was much more biochemical than anything to do with my family background.”

Joe's story of his descent into a life of drug-taking and crime includes many colourful characters along the way.

Joshua Macmillan, the Prime Minister's grandson, was a friend of Joe's and former drug dealer Howard Marks was a contemporary.

At one point in the book, Joe recalls how he and a friend rubbed shoulders with Mick and Keith, of Rolling Stones fame.

The narrative is fast, furious and funny, and is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Joe South's story does not make drug-taking appear glamorous because he details clearly the effects of becoming addicted to hard drugs, including contracting Hepatitis C.

There are passages which reveal clearly the seamy side of the drugs underworld in Oxford and London in the 1960s.

But Joe South was lucky enough to be able to turn his life around, and the lives of others, when he set up Rhoserchan, and the book is ultimately an uplifting read.

The author, who has been clean for almost 30 years, and lives with his partner Hilary, is no longer dreaming of his latest fix.

Now that he has become hooked on writing, a publishing deal for Poppy Dream is his biggest craving.

* Poppy Dream – The Story of an English Addict by Joe South is published by AuthorHouse.