Doing it for the kicks
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:
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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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Hi, I'm Joe Crowley - presenter of the BBC South's current affairs programme, Inside Out - and this is my blog. I'll do my best to bring you all the discussion points, the behind-the-scenes goings on and, of course, my thoughts on the stories we cover. So, have a read and let me know what you think. Or if you think there's a story we've missed, feel free to drop me an e-mail: 
Comments
Young people are out to find more "kicks" to their ever changing fast way of life or ways to take of the pressure that life can bring.
Where things better in my day?? I dont think so.
I'm 46, a father of two teenage children and who has never tried drugs. I fact I think if we were to use statistics I would have been as a youngster in the top class who would have been part of the risk group. I remember when I was at school in Chester, UK. people were reverting to adding the chemicals to the "lick on - stick on" football cards that we used to collect to get the children hooked.
What role can parents play in educating their children regarding drugs and pear pressure? Is it taught at schools and what information is available? A death of a young life briefly highlights the risk and is forgotten about rather quickly and things revert back to its vicious circle.
In the meantime while bureaucrats are discussing which is the best way to go more people are dying and the chemists and dealers are getting richer.
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There have been new chemicals on the "legal highs" market (which are relatively unknown at the moment) which will replace mephedrone when it becomes illegal (which it will). It is a battle the government cannot win, a continuous cycle, and all that remains is to see if they will apply science to the drugs debate. Science over morals!
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I just watched the program on Mephadrone and ignoring the fact that it was extremely subjective, I think you are missing the point. There is no use rushing to ban a drug as soon as it becomes popular. That is ignorant and won't make an ounce of difference for the same reason as Tony Williams says; it will be replaced by something else. far more worthwhile would be to do some research into the effects of the drug, legalise it fully (for use as a drug rather than plant fertiliser) and attach a warning based on research into its effects. People can then make up their own minds on the matter and make an educated decision about whether to use and how much to use.
With regard to the program itself, I am not sure what was trying to be achieved, frightening parents perhaps. I can tell you though, scare-mongering will not put young people off. If the program was designed to put them off doing it; I think it will have failed because most young people, myself included, know plenty of friends who do it regularly without getting addicted or dying. By trying to get it banned and choosing to focus on two extreme cases you have made yourself sound like an anti-drug extremist. Far more worthwhile would have been to interview one of the 99% people who haven't gone completely off the rails as a result of taking mephadrone and asked them what they think of it, even if that won't put young people off, it will at least make them more likely to listen to you when you go on to suggest that it could be harmful
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