VALIUM BEING USED AS CHEAP ALTERNATIVE TO HEROIN

Mother's Little Helper Is Back: Heroin Shortage Makes Valium The
Street Drug Of Choice

Survey Reveals Soaring Use Of Illicit Diazepam

More Than 2m Pills Seized By Police In Last Two Years

Valium is making a comeback, but not as the "mother's little helper"
prescription pill that tranquillised British suburban housewives in
the 1960s and 1970s. According to an authoritative drug survey,
published today, diazepam, as it is properly known, is being used by
class A drug users as a cheap alternative to heroin.

The 2008 Druglink magazine street drug trends survey published today
says the increased popularity of diazepam in the last 12 months
reflects a drop in the quality and availability of street heroin in
some parts of the country .

Despite successive bumper opium crops in Afghanistan the snapshot
survey, based on evidence from more than 100 frontline drug treatment
services and drug action teams, shows some areas experiencing
outright shortages of good quality heroin.

The annual survey shows that street drug prices have remained
generally static over the past 12 months. An ounce of skunk-type
herbal cannabis now costs on average UKP 131 - against UKP 134 last
year - and in some areas it is completely dominating the market,
making it hard to get lower strength herbal and cannabis resin.

Martin Barnes, the chief executive of DrugScope, the drugs
information charity which publishes the magazine, said the rise in
the use of illicitly imported diazepam was a cause of concern, as
drug users faced a high risk of overdose when it was used in
combination with methadone and alcohol. "With the proliferation of
counterfeit diazepam comes unpredictable quality and strength," he said.

The survey found that the use of diazepam, better known under its now
defunct brand name of Valium, is rising in 15 out of the 20 towns and
cities it covered. Known as "vallies" or "blues" a 10 milligram dose
costs just UKP 1.

The drugs charity said it was being used as a heroin substitute, and
often taken alongside strong alcohol or methadone as a "come down"
from the jarring effects of crack cocaine. The two sedatives act
together to create a powerful but potentially lethal effect on the body.

"A few vallies can buy a bit of time and ease some symptoms of
withdrawal," reported a drug worker in Torquay, Devon. "Diazepam is
increasingly popular amongst young people and it is increasingly
available to them," said the manager of a young people's drug service
in Newcastle. The Strathclyde police drug squad said there was a huge
market for diazepam in Glasgow, with heavy drinkers and heroin and
cocaine users all using it to stave off after effects.

Drug users say the main source is likely to be smugglers importing
bulk quantities of legitimate supplies from France, Spain and Portugal.

Police and Customs seizures of diazepam have soared from 300,000
pills between July 2003 and June 2006 to 2m between July 2006 and
June this year.

The Serious and Organised Crime Agency has said that heroin shortages
in some parts of the UK could have been sparked by a rise in the
wholesale UK price since the start of the summer from around UKP
13,000 a kilo to UKP 17,000 a kilo. Some criminal groups are reported
to be having difficulty getting hold of what they perceive to be good
quality heroin.

Barnes said that a heroin shortage might appear to be a positive
development, especially as it could lead to more people undergoing
treatment, "but it can bring its own problems. Users may be more
inclined to inject rather than smoke the drug during times of
shortage or poor quality. And there is a higher risk of overdose when
the market readjusts to more normal levels of supply and quality".