GOOD ADVICE KEY TO SAFER DRUG USE

The Government seems to think that young people pay attention to the
classification system - like a 15 year old drug user actually considers the
implications of whether cannabis is class C or class B or whether ecstasy
is A or B.

What counts is reliable advice from people who you trust - generally older
brothers and sisters.

Tony Blair has admitted that the Government cannot stop the flow of drugs
and they can't stop those drugs finding their market.

And whether we like it or not, young people form a large part of that
market. So let's take a practical approach.

The most effective way to protect people from the dangers of drug use is to
provide them with honest, factual, unsensational education about drugs.

So here are the main points of what I know about drugs, based on my own
experiences and those of my friends:

Caffeine: Legal. Can wake you up but if you have too much it makes you
tense and sweaty.

Alcohol: Legal to over 18s: Makes you feel pleasantly giddy in sensible
quantities and if you know when to stop. Have too much and it can make you
violent, depressed and physically ill. Have far too much and it can ruin
your life and kill you. I've seen it happen.

Cannabis: Illegal. Moderate amounts can make you feel laughy, intensify
your perceptions and deepen sensations. But use it when you're in a bad
frame of mind and it can lead to anxiety and confusion. Regular heavy use
and when combined with too much daytime TV can lead to deteriorating mental
health. Heavy stoners are often very dull.

Speed: Illegal. Light, infrequent use may make you stay awake laughing but
you might pay the price with a miserable comedown where you can't sleep and
you feel awful. I know people who love it. I've also known people who use
it too much and have become nasty, twitchy, self-centred and paranoid.
Speed can be a dirty drug which is often cut with all kinds of rubbish to
bulk up the weight, sometimes making it quite dangerous.

Ecstasy: Illegal. I'm told by many people that it's a laugh - I've never
tried it myself.

The people I know who have done it too much are twitchy, starey and tend to
look confused.

LSD: Illegal. A dot the size of a grain of sand landed me in hospital for a
night when I was 18 and it took me more than a year to sort my head out
afterwards. Another person I know committed suicide by lying on a railway
line because his mental illness was compounded or brought on by using LSD
and magic mushrooms. Others I know have had a great time but personally, I
wouldn't risk it.

Cocaine: Illegal. Funny, laughy, confidence enhancing party drug. Often
makes people more interested in themselves than in other people. Very
expensive. There are people who use it occasionally and still have happy,
prosperous lives. There are also many who don't know how to stop. Other
sheep-like saps think cocaine is fashionable. I knew a funny, friendly,
warm man who became a paranoid, violent person, heavily in debt to
dangerous people because of cocaine. And look what it did to Danniella
Westbrook.

Street heroin: Illegal. Anti-social, numbing, addictive, dirty drug. Not
something anyone needs in their life. Don't even think about starting with
it. Easy to overdose. Easy to lose control of your life.

So there you have it. I'll leave it up to individuals to make their own
minds up.

But, whatever the decision, don't take it lightly