Series: Drugs Uncovered: Part 10 Of 17

BUT WHAT'S IN THE DRUGS?

Sweetener, Stone And Even Ground Glass Were Found In The Drugs Bought
Around Britain, As Tests By Forensic Scientist Jim Campbell Reveal The
Variable Purity And Hidden Dangers Of Street Sales

I received an assortment of street drugs purchased by The Observer
journalist, and I weighed the contents then analysed them for their drug
content and purity.

These figures show that the amount you get for your money can vary
considerably from one location to another, and a half-gram deal can contain
as little as one-tenth of a gram. His haul in Edinburgh included a bag of
heroin containing 0.04g - less than one-twentieth of a gram.

The purity also varied very considerably with some 'heroin' being mainly
pulverised stone and glass. There is no way of knowing what the purity is
when the drugs are being bought.

Casting the issue of legality to one side, drug users are being exploited
in a way that no trading standards would allow if this were any other
consumer commodity. What's more, using drugs of unknown quality is highly
dangerous. It can easily lead to health problems or inadvertent overdosing.

If you're used to 'scoring' 'low purity' heroin, and you inject 90 per
cent, it could prove fatal. The National Drugs Helpline put drug users in
touch with us at SureScreen for any technical help, so we have to be
hands-on professionals giving help that is easy to understand.

As a forensic scientist specialising in drug-related cases, I now feel that
drug users should be encouraged to test their drugs. We are looking at
making a little, automated device to test ecstasy tablets. We have shied
away from this sensitive issue, but we now feel the home-testing market is
ethically justified.

Those other elements in full

Heroin: Nutmeg, brick dust, stone, glass... anything from the dealer's
yard, as long as it maintains a persuasive colour.

Ecstasy: Traditionally, with white tablets: food dye, starch, talcum
powder. But now different colours have started to appear on the market in
part, I imagine, because it allows the dealers to throw in all sorts of
stuff. The white colour was at least some sort of protection.

Cocaine: Sugar, flour, talcum powder, starch, even calcium silicate (used
on arm injuries). And, in terms of the "active" ingredient, increasingly
you will now have cheaper amphetamines (speed) instead of cocaine.