Archives for November 2009

I'm sad to say that during the months we've been working on our drugs film we've seen the 'legal high cycle' go full circle.

What's the legal high cycle?

Well, it all starts when a clever chemist somewhere comes up with a new chemical that makes you high but isn't classified under our existing drugs laws.

Step two, word spreads and through online providers or high street head shops, people -typically teenagers and students - start experimenting with the new drug.

It's not only 'attractive' because it's a new experience but crucially it's legal so users don't have to worry as much about having it on them at festivals or when they go into clubs or gigs.

Step three is when it all goes sour. At some point something goes wrong and someone gets seriously hurt or even dies.

Sometimes these unlucky individuals are trying the drug for the first time or maybe they've just combined it with another substance and unwittingly struck upon a deadly combination.

Then finally, the government steps in and under pressure from the media, aggrieved parents or their independent drugs advisors (those who haven't been sacked), legislation is passed to ban the drug.

It's happened time and time again but I'm not sure I expected to witness the full cycle in just a few months.

We started filming back in April this year. The beautiful and talented Hester Stewart had just died and the post mortem revealed the party drug GBL in her body.

We were present at her memorial service and I've filmed few things as painfully sad as proceedings that day. There was a tremendous amount of love and celebration of Hester but nothing could have done more to emphasise the devastation that drugs like GBL can cause.

You cannot compensate for such a loss but suddenly GBL was firmly on the national agenda. Hester was mentioned in Parliament, the Home Secretary took an interest and GBL was soon declared as one of the 'legal highs' to be outlawed this year.

But here's the point: no sooner had the government decided to act, a new drug came on the scene; a white cocaine-like power called Meow or Miaow - full name Mephedrone.

Our film shows how it's taken off in Brighton. This isn't some herbal legal alternative to a classified drug; it's so strong, so addictive and so popular it's fast taking the place of cocaine. And because it's 'legal' large numbers of people - particularly young teenagers - are taking it in serious quantities, believing it to be safe.

And it seems we reached full circle just before our film went out. Tragically 14-year-old Gabrielle Price died of a heart attack at a Brighton party and it's thought she took Mephedrone.

So what can be done?

At the moment, the police cannot take action against the drug because the substance is legal, unlike cocaine or other outlawed narcotics. Therefore, 'head shops' in shopping areas and back streets of every town and city in the country can stock and sell this drug with confidence (although most people get it online or from individual dealers).

It would be possible to clamp down on the drug if it was sold for human consumption because it could be classified as a medicine and therefore illegal to buy without a prescription according the 1968 Medicines Act.

It's a fairly grey area legally because it focuses on the sale of the substance rather than the substance itself but the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) have clamped down on BZP and other legal highs this way in this way in the past.

But that's exactly why the creators of Mephedrone have been so inventive and labelled it as a plant feeder. It's no such thing of course - when we checked with Kew Gardens and the Royal Horticultural Society they'd never heard of it and wouldn't use it on their plants - it's just a way for the drug dealers to claim it's not for human consumption, thereby getting them through a legal loophole.

I'm sure it will be made illegal eventually but it seems the government just can't keep pace with legal highs. They are lagging behind and in the time it takes for them to catch up lives are being lost.

I'm not saying there's an easy solution to this but it's clear to see why there have been calls for a change in approach. I'd be interested to hear your ideas on the best way forward but I'll leave you with two examples of legislation approach tried in other countries.

The Americans have provided food for thought in the form of the Federal Analogue Act that outlaws substances that with similar properties to drugs that are already outlawed.

And in New Zealand the government created a new drug classification for BZP and other legal highs, a move that Professor Nutt was keen to pursue in the UK before he was sacked by the government:

If you or someone you know needs support or advice regarding drugs, illegal or legal these organisations can help:

Sources of support

Narcotics Anonymous
A self-help group run by recovering addicts with a network of meetings across the country:
Helpline: 0845 373 3366
Website: www.ukna.org

The National Drugs Helpline and Talk to Frank
Free help and advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Tel: 0800 776600
Website:www.talktofrank.com

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Every now and then we dash overseas to film something and for reasons I'll never understand my friends always think that this act is in some way glamourous.

"Oooooh, jetting off to Spain are we? Very nice!" would be a typical response.

And as most of the sequences we film will only make a minute or two of television, my friends will never have any idea of the reality around how that footage came to be.

Until now that is.

Last week we had to go to Denmark to interview someone as part of an investigation we're due to air in a couple of weeks and this time I made a video diary.

Accompanied by Cameraman Joe and Producer Jonathan the diary begins on board a well known budget airline en route to Copenhagen:

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I think 'nighthawks' can be fairly defined as people who raid protected historical sites, normally with metal detectors, in an illegal search for buried treasure.

Yet whenever anyone tries to do a piece on nighthawks, they inevitably draw attention from legitimate metal detectors - of whom there are undoubtedly thousands - complaining that they are being brought into disrepute.

Well let me say this: I don't have any doubt about the value of responsible detectorists and the positive role they have in uncovering our past.

And we don't just make negative films, we have featured legitimate detectorists on Inside Out South before now and I'm sure we will do so again.

But that doesn't mean we should avoid doing something about nighthawking because, as our film shows, it is a serious problem and it needs to be highlighted so action can be taken.

In every sense it's a despicable crime. Not only is it placing greed and individual gain before the collective benefit of historical research and understanding, it's also an anti-social crime, terrorising landowners in many areas of the countryside.

And who can blame farmers or locals from not wanting to step in and confront these people when they could end up getting a spade around their head in return.

We'd certainly heard more than a few stories of violence accompanying nighthawking.

In fact, we had a plan to call for backup if it was needed and I thought I'd just include a short video clip below showing just how tricky that call can be in a dark when you're trying to avoid being seen.

Firstly, my phone is roughly the size of a breeze block and remarkably it seems able to emit enough bright white light that it could guide small aircraft into land on a foggy night. To say it somewhat draws attention in the middle of a pitch black field full of nighthawks is the mother of all understatements.

Secondly, despite all my research even I wasn't expecting to see as many as five nighthawks all working one site. So as well as texting a security man to confirm he needed to join us, I also had to ring Jonathan from our office and ask him to attend.

He wasn't really expecting a call. In fact, I think his words on leaving the office were something along the lines of "Well, I guess you won't be needing me tonight".

And as you'll see from this clip, as I lie on top of my phone to prevent the light being seen, Jonathan needed a little persuading:

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Now admittedly, all surveys are a little bit circumspect.

You can never really speak to enough people from enough different backgrounds to be sure your findings fairly reflect society.

But when your survey is 'cake based' and relies upon rewarding people with a slice of three different cakes depending on the state of their finances, all pretence of conducting a 'scientific poll' goes out of the window (or should that be down the throat?)

And I'm not just talking about producer Jane, quietly nibbling away at the edge of the Victoria sponge when the cameras were pointing elsewhere. Honestly, you can't trust that woman around food. And that's ME saying that!

So, what did we bake...er...I mean make of the cakey results? Did it show the recession is the sugar-cane that broke the marzipan camel's back when it comes to personal finances? Don't worry, I won't try to stretch that analogy any further.

Well, we just about got a sense from our three cakes ('debt free', 'manageable debt' and 'help me Alvin') that very few people were both in debt AND in control.

Most were either debt free - typically older citizens - or they had fallen foul of temping credit cards, store cards and high street money lenders.

And we found there are a lot of people out there in serious trouble who are struggling to find a job or make ends meet with high loan repayments.

One guy was paying £100 a month just to service a loan of £700 and thankfully Alvin Hall was on hand to offer some very frank advice.

I should say his main recommendation was to be honest about your level of debt and to seek help as soon as possible. The National Debtline (0808 808 4000) is a good place to start.

It was certainly very brave of everyone involved to share their story with us.

In fact, on the day perhaps the real success from a journalistic and production point of view was getting complete strangers to stop in the street and open up to Alvin about the state of their finances.

And that's where cake really came into its own. Well, cake and Alvin that is.

It's a while since I last saw the money guru that is Alvin Hall on British TV but the ladies of Reading certainly had not forgotten the charm of this financial Casanova.

All I'll say is I certainly felt like the spare sandwich at a picnic - to my surprise the Berkshire babes only had eyes for one man...

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