Originally from Bourke and then living in Wagga Wagga, Jamahl was smoking weed daily.

"Some people say it's not addictive but I think I was addicted to it," he said.

"I loved to have it before I played sport, loved to have it before I went to school, it started off as just a once-off thing ... but it got to the point where I couldn't go three hours without it."

Yesterday, Jamahl graduated from Triple Care Farm.

His 14-week residential program finished in October, and Jamahl said although it had been hard, he hadn't smoked marijuana since.

"The first two weeks and the last two weeks were hardest," he said.

"[The last two] were making me think whether when I got back out I was going to get back on the drugs or stay on a straight path.

"Just before I got off it I remember saying to myself I'm sick of these cold nights ... the drugs, they don't do nothing for you.

"They last an hour, depends how much you have, then they're gone."

Jamahl had a rough childhood. At age 13 he was forced to leave Bourke due to family violence.

"I got kicked out ... because of threats I made against my family," he said.

"I was doing bad things like breaking into houses and cars."

Moving to Wagga Wagga to live with his grandmother and extended family, Jamahl's marijuana use spiralled out of control.

"I heard voices one night when I was smoking yandi [marijuana]," he said.

"I couldn't work out what they were saying [but] I had these thoughts I wanted to kill my nephew and my nanna ... so they didn't have to watch me suffer going to jail."

It was that moment when Jamahl realised he needed help.

"I didn't want the voices to get clearer and tell me what to do," he said.

"So I got off the drugs and I haven't heard the voices since."

Jamahl now lives in Corrimal, and has just completed his Certificate II in Business.

"I haven't been able to save any money since I gave it up but I've been able to buy my own stuff, pay rent, that type of stuff," he said.