DRUGS HAVE BECOME PART OF YOUTH CULTURE

As Seizures Rise Rehabilitation Experts Warn Of Growing Problem

by Sarah Shenker MSN NEWS

POLITICIANS and police will rarely admit it on the record but drug misuse
by Britain’s youth is increasing at an alarming rate.

Estimates put the number of regular “recreational” users of ecstacy at
anywhere between 100,000 and 500,000 a week and a new study of 22,000
schoolchildren has found that a third aged between 14 and 15 have taken drugs.

Over the next seven days MSN News will examine all sides of the drugs debate.

Cannabis is by far the most widely-experienced drug with nearly
three-in-ten of the older age group having tried it at least once.
Amphetamines, ecstacy and hallucinogens come next in the survey by the 11th
annual “Young People” report by Exeter University’s Schools Health
Education Unit.

In interviews conducted by MSN News, a senior police officer, a
high-profile drugs charity and a leading coroner have all expressed serious
concern at current trends in the UK and at delays in getting addicts into
rehabilitation clinics.

Of particular concern is the growing use of heroin.

Government figures released by Customs and Excise show a sharp rise in the
number of heroin and methadone seizures for 1996, a 41 per cent rise on the
previous year. Police seized almost 750,000 kilos of heroin with a street
value estimated at over £55 million. Home Office figures indicated a
tripling in seizures in the past two years.

Prisoner officers and GPs are both noting increases in the number of drug
abusers, which reached over 32,500 in 1995. A 1996 parliamentary report
from the Office for Science and Techonology highlighted the fact that
illicit drug use continues to rise in the UK and abroad.

And despite an increase in the number of arrests, the demand for heroin is
rising.

Catherine Perez-Phillips of drug charity Release said that the last couple
of years have seen an increase in heroin use among young people. “We’re
undoubtedly seeing more calls about heroin. There’s more of it around and
the prices have dropped. Everybody is either smoking it or snorting it.”
Currently prices for heroin stand as low as £10 for a gram.

The Government is reviewing its drug policy with the help of the Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

Gerry Dickinson, DCI and head of the West Yorkshire Police drugs squad,
described the increases in heroin abuse as “an extremely worrying trend”.

“Somehow, as a nation, we’ve got to reduce it,” he said.

Blackburn coroner Andre Rebello, who has previously warned of the
increasing levels of heroin abuse in the UK, has repeated his call for
immediate action, saying “we need to raise public awareness and bring the
message home to the health authorities and the Government that new
inititives are needed.” He warned: “It’s going to get worse before it gets
better.”

More than a quarter of his cases are heroin or methadone overdoses. Drug
taking he said, is “more and more accepted by young people as a route to
escapism.”

Katherine Evans of the Health Education Authority said: “A lot of young
people are ignorant of the risks. There is no such thing as safe drug taking.”

But both DCI Dickinson and Catherine Perez-Phillips have also warned of the
dangers of forgetting other drug addictions, such as to benzodiapezines,
tranquillisers and to speed.

THE WAR AGAINST DRUGS HAS BEEN LOST

by Kevin Williamson for MSN NEWS

THE war against drugs has been lost. And that’s now official. While most
governments and politicians dogmatically refuse to concede defeat a recent
report by the United Nations underlines just how badly the drug wars have
been lost.

In the last decade world opium production has trebled. Global production of
coca (from which cocaine is produced) has doubled and most staggeringly of
all illicit drug trade now accounts for an estimated eight per cent of
world trade.

Stop and think about it for a moment.

Eight per cent of world trade.

The drug barons internationally have now become more powerful than any
individual government or multinational corporation. In countries where drug
plant production is concentrated particularly in Central and South America
as well as in areas of Asia and North Africa, the drug cartels have more
military muscle than their native states and in some countries like
Columbia are virtually indistinguishable from the state itself.

In the UK, HM Customs admit that only around 10 per cent of the heroine
that floods into the country is intercepted.

The other 90 per cent reaches it’s intended market on the street.

It’s almost as if the drug laws don’t exist and free trade has been
established. How much more convincing do politicians need to realise that
the war against drugs has been lost.

Illicit drugs are now part and part of the society we live in and no amount
of coercion, clampdown, long prison sentences or undercover police
operations are going to make the slightest bit of difference.

A unpalatable fact of life for some but stating the obvious if you look at
the facts.

So what do we do? When the war against drugs has been lost there is
certainly no point battling on and piling up the casualties. Or continuing
the (very expensive) tried and failed methods of drug prohibition - which
in practice is nothing more than a futile attempt at containment. Maybe
it’s time we came to accept the obvious - that drugs are here to stay
whether we like it or not.

Common sense surely suggests the latter approach is long overdue. And that
calls for some radical rethinking on how we deal with what has now become a
drug society.

The logical place to start in this debate is by asking some relevant
questions. Such as: Why do people take drugs? What do we mean by drugs? Are
all drugs harmful, addictive and dangerous? If not, which drugs are causing
problems? And how can we reduce the harm that these drugs cause?

It’s only by asking questions such as these that answers will begin to
form. And from them solutions. A large part of that process is freeing the
debate from the hypocrisy and hysteria that has been used to spread a
smokescreen over the whole debate. Groups with vested interests - whether
they be peddlars of drugs like alcohol; religious fundamentalists; ranting
tabloid editors; hypocritical politicians; etc - should not be allowed to
set the agenda on this debate. It’s too important to be left in their hands.

It’s for this reason that I’ve written a book entitled Drugs And The Party
Line (published by Rebel Inc, Oct 1997) which starts with the questions
above, examines all aspects of drug policy, and then concludes with a
rounded out cohesive argument for changing both the drug laws and the way
drug education is carried out.

I believe it’s time to stop harassing and criminalising drug users and
start learning to live with drugs in our midst.

BLAIR PROMISES TO TACKLE DRUG MENACE

Prime Minister Tells MSN News Of New Measures To Drive Dealers Off The
Streets

by Nick Assinder MSN NEWS

THE Prime Minister has promised a concerted Government crackdown on drug
abuse.

As a father with teenage children he is particularly concerned about the
prevalence of illegal drugs on the nation’s streets.

And he exclusively told MSN News: “This government is committed to cracking
down on drug abuse and ensuring that measures are in place against dealers.
In addition we are determined to see better drug abuse prevention.

“As part of that campaign we are announcing the appointment of a drugs czar
to co-ordinate the effort.”

The search for a czar-like figure to lead the battle against drug abuse has
already begun..

Recruitment advertisements for the UK Anti-drugs Co-ordinator - dubbed the
drug czar - appeared in a number of national newspapers.

The key function will be to review existing Government strategy and
recommend possible improvements.

The advert stresses that the job is high-profile, with direct access to the
Prime Minister, and calls for heavyweight applicants.

Job requirements include proven leadership skills, experience of the drugs
or a comparable field, and motivation skills. The advert also stresses that
the ability to squeeze “added value” from resources over which the drug
czar would not have direct control.

The drug czar will answer to Ann Taylor, President of the Council, who
chairs the Cabinet sub-committee on drug misuse.

Mrs Taylor, noting that last year 23,313 abusers attended drug services for
the first time or after a gap, said: “We want somebody to lead, head up,
inspire, galvanise this campaign in such a way that we can make a greater
impact on this very significant problem.

“The time is right to move up a gear in terms of fighting drugs, because
the problem is getting worse year on year.”

The successful applicant would not necessarily be a senior police officer,
Mrs Taylor insisted.

“There shouldn’t be any assumptions about who this person will be - we are
open-minded about who should get this position,” she said.

Government is planning a series of measures including the appointment of a
drugs czar and the introduction of longer sentences for repeat dealers.

The use of drugs of all kinds has become one of the defining
characteristics of modern society.

Statistics suggest the overwhelming majority of teenagers have used drugs
at one time or another, and that many youngsters use them on a regular
basis in the same way their parents use alcohol.

And those parents probably lived through the 1960s and 70s when you
actually had to make an effort not to come into contact with drugs and an
even bigger effort not to experiment like everyone else around you. It was
what made the 60s swing or, more realistically, sleep.

When Oasis star Noel Gallagher said taking drugs was as much a part of
everyday life as having a cup of tea he was pilloried for encouraging the
nation’s youth into a life of depravity and decadence.

No one seemed to take on board the fact that he was accurately reflecting
reality for tens of thousands of young and not-so-young people.

The politicians trotted out the usual attacks and not a single voice was
raised in Parliament suggesting that, if this was really true, then it
deserved to be treated seriously and examined rather more carefully.

The message from the lawmakers was simple - drugs are bad and drug takers
are to be punished and-or pitied.

For politicians, the drugs issue is a no-go area. The first sign that an MP
might be advocating anything other than total prohibition with severe
punishments for transgressors lands him or her in serious trouble.

Outspoken Labour front-bencher Clare Short discovered that to her cost when
she suggested there should be a debate about the benefits or hazards of the
decriminalisation of some so-called soft drugs.

She caused another sensation when she refused to tell an MSN News chat user
whether or not she had taken drugs because the same question would then be
asked of other front-benchers, some of whom would have to lie.

The Liberal Democrats regularly pass motions at their party conferences
calling for some sort of relaxation of current drug controls, or for a
debate over decriminalisation. But the leadership always slaps down the
proposers and reiterates the anti-drug line.

And, most famously, Bill Clinton caused hilarity tinged with some disbelief
when he said that, during his time as a student in Britain, he smoked
cannabis but didn’t inhale.

The trouble is, drugs aren’t going to go away and the
“debate-at-your-peril” response from the politicians may be doing more harm
than good.

If it is true that Britain’s youth is walking around in a near-permanent
state of doped-out oblivion, or Ecstasy-induced euphoria it might be
something you would expect a responsible government to tackle head-on.

But the whole issue is surrounded by ignorance and fear and no one wants to
be the one to open Pandora’s Box.

For every expert who says decriminalisation of some, or all, drugs would
make the problem easier to control and take the gangsters out of the
equation there is another who will just as forcibly argue that such a move
would be the first step on a slippery slope towards anarchy.

Only a couple of things seem certain. First, drug taking is widespread and
is not confined to any single social or age groups. Second, the need by
some users to feed serious drug habits is playing an increasingly large
part in criminal activity.

Perhaps those facts alone should be enough to warrant a new look at the
entire issue.

The Conservative Party has a strong line on drugs and beieves dealers
should be punished with severe sentences.

A spokesman said: “We beieve drugs are a threat to the whole fabric of
society because of the links to crime.

“They don’t just hurt those people who take them, they hurt people all
around them.”

The Liberal Democrats are committed to setting up a Royal Commission
“charged with the developing policies to tackle the drugs problem at its
roots.”

They also focus on the import of drugs and promise to give the police and
Customs and Excise “the support they need” to stop drugs coming into the
country.

The rump Liberal Party, which broke away from the Lib Dems, are far more
radical.

They call for state control of all illegal drugs to take the gangsters out
of the equation.

Said a spokesman:“The state would licence the provision of drugs. That
would allow the supplies to be controled. Prohibition hasn’t worked and has
led to a rise in criminal activity associated wth drugs.

“This way would end a lot of the crime, that is why so many police forces
support such a move.”

ECSTASY AND CLUBBING WITH ROSIE

I Only Buy From Dealers I Know

Words by Sarah Shenker and Pictures by Christophe Tweedie MSN NEWS

THE FIRST time Rosie did drugs she was 15 years old.

Her boyfriend was a dealer, and they took some acid.

“Disaster area” she said. “It was a dud so I didn’t get anything off it.
Then I went to Reading Festival with some friends and took it again. It was
proper acid and it was really strong. It was actually a bad experience.”

But she wasn’t discouraged, and kept on taking it.

“Although there were really bad parts to that trip, there was some stuff
that I was really interested in. Some of it was amazing and I just wanted
to take it again in different surroundings.”

“It’s the escapism of it, where everything else is blocked out. The
hallucinations, seeing the world differently, all the usual clichés.”

She took acid about once a month until she finished boarding school.

Meanwhile she started to go clubbing in London, and started taking pills
and speed. “A lot of my friends were doing it and I was very curious. Also,
I got into the dance music and it was just a natural progression.”

Now Rosie is 20 and at university. She doesn’t worry about the dangers of
ecstasy. “I don’t really think about it. Also, I only buy from dealers I
know, or from friends who buy from dealers they know. I used to sometimes
buy from people I didn’t know, in a club. I feel stupid about it once I’ve
done it, but I still do it. I just kick myself afterwards.”

Otherwise, she believes that she can manage the possible health risks and
dangers. “I go clubbing with a bunch of friends. We all know each other
well and we all watch out for each other.”

She’s never had a scare, but a good friend of hers had a bad experience
while at Tribal Gathering, a large outdoor dance music festival. “There was
a bit of a history of epilepsy in the family, but she had never had a fit.
She took some E and went on one of the fairground rides they had there. She
had a huge seizure. She couldn’t move. By the time they managed to stop the
ride and get her off, her heart had stopped. There were paramedics, and
they managed to get it going again.”

It doesn’t really scare her. “I was really angry at her for having put
herself in that situation. I feel that I’m careful and that I take care of
herself.”

Rosie is the stereotype of the bored middle-class teenager who does drugs
for kicks and believes that no harm will ever come of her. “I wouldn’t
touch anything stronger. It’s a social thing, and a recreational things. I
smoke gear during the week, and do pills and stuff sometimes on weekends.

“It’s such a normal thing. My dad used to smoke weed in front of us kids.”

ECSTASY TOOK MY DANIEL AWAY

Heather Ashton Now Fights To Stop Children Taking Drugs

Words by Sarah Shenker and Pictures by Christophe Tweedie MSN NEWS

DANIEL ASHTON was 17-years-old when he died in a busy night-club in
Blackpool. He was found slumped in a corner, unconscious.

The bouncers thought he was drunk, and refused to let his friends help him.
Eventually an ambulance was called. When they got to him he was in a coma.
Three hours after he left home, he was pronounced dead. It was 11.10pm.

At the inquest into his death, the coroner Sammy Lee revealed that Danny
had died as a result of taking ecstasy. In the couple of minutes it took
him to choke to death, Daniel Ashton had become another statistic to feed
the public’s fear about ecstasy and its side-effects.

Daniel Ashton was an unlikely candidate for an ecstasy death. Daniel wasn’t
interested in drugs. He wouldn’t even finish a course of antibiotics if he
could avoid it.

When his mother asked him about drugs he would tell her not to worry. “I’ve
got more sense then that,” he’d tell her. “I’m not a smack-head, I’m no
junky. I’ve got some common sense.” When he was 16, Daniel wrote a play for
his class about drug-awareness: it was the story of a kid who died after
taking drugs.

Like the more famous ecstasy casualty Leah Betts, he was a smart kid, with
ambitions. Sometimes he wanted to be a physics teacher, sometimes he wanted
to write educational books for children. Then he won the Dramatist of the
Year award at school, and decided he wanted to be an actor. His teacher was
pushing him to go to drama school. She said he was a natural. But he was at
college studying sound engineering just in case.

His mother Heather Ashton is petite and dressed in pink. She sits curled in
a ball in her chair, chain-smoking cigarettes as she talks about Daniel’s
death.

The girl he was with said she took two ecstatsy tablets and Daniel took
two, but Daniel didn’t take two ecstasy tablets, there was only one found
in his body. From all the tests they did they knew that he had only taken
the one.

“Danny was seen that night, approached by a well-known drug dealer in the
nightclub, offering him drugs. Dan was laughing and shaking his head saying
‘No way’, and later a friend saw Daniel drinking from a bottle and then he
didn’t see him again the rest of the night. When he heard the news next day
he was just in shock because there was no way Daniel would have taken drugs
that night. He said ‘If he took drugs, it was put into that bottle.’ We
just don’t know what happened at all.

“It’s just a big jigsaw. A few of his friends saw him slumped in a corner
of this nightclub where the bouncer had just dragged him, and to our
knowledge he was there for at least 20 minutes, and the doorman refused to
let any of his friends help him. He was unconscious in a corner in the
nightclub. The doorman said later ‘Oh, I thought he was drunk’, but if he
was drunk and unconscious, he still should not have left him slumped. He
wasn’t in a recovery position, he was just slumped in a position where he
could choke to death, which is basically how he went into a coma. By the
time the ambulance was called They tried to get the tubes down his throat
and they couldn’t. It was all too late. He more or less died in the
nightclub.

“He left here at 8.10pm and that was at 11.10pm. That’s how quick it all
happened.”

Before Daniel’s death, Heather had no idea of the extent of drug-taking
among kids in Blackpool. “If somebody died of a drug overdose, whichever
drug it was, you’d just think, ‘Oh, drug addicts, what do they expect? They
ask for what they get.’ Ecstasy seems to be the normal part of a night out,
especially on the rave scene. And there again, I think rave music is
hypnotic, it’s like voodoo music. The kids get tagged along with this
music. These drugs, it’s all part and parcel, it’s the same effects. It’s
just a form of voodoo, and if I had my way I’d ban raves because it just
seems to encourage kids to do this sort of thing.

Heather now chairs a support group for families hit by drug abuse. “When I
lost Daniel, everyone was bombarding me to get this drug awareness group
going because it had a massive impact on the town when Daniel died. Nobody
realised how bad it was in Blackpool. Because so many people knew Dan, they
thought it would be an opportunity to get people to really listen and face
up to the problem.”

The support group produces a newsletter, car stickers, information
leaflets, and pictures of Daniel. They raise all the money themselves. They
try to get the kids involved. A group of Daniel’s friends have formed a
football team, and they play charity matches under the name Daniel FC. It
has proven so popular that they are getting together a second team.

Heather says that it was Daniel’s friends who helped her cope with losing
him. “The only thing that kept me going was talking about Daniel,
constantly. If people were talking about Daniel, then I could relate to
them. I couldn’t relate to any of my friends my own age because they didn’t
want to talk about it, it was too upsetting.”

“Kids today seem to think ecstasy is a soft drug, a ‘recreational drug’,
that’s what they’re calling it. But it’s now classed an A drug because it
is so serious They didn’t realise the extent of the dangers until they
started producing figures. Daniel was supposed to be the 62nd death, but
the ecstasy related deaths, there must be thousands of them. The kids,
they’re not really living, they’re surviving, with heart, lung, kidney,
livers defects, with brain damage. All related to ecstasy, and there aren’t
any figures for that. It’s too terrifying for them to face up to.

“And the dealers, they’re not like how we used to think of dealers. You
know, these shifty-eyed men and all that. It can be their best friends in
school, in college. It just seems to be so fashionable with the kids. They
don’t want to say no.”

(continued in Part 2)