£60,000 of Heroin...
Posted: Sunday, 30 September 2007 |
There is a great feeling of potential, when one starts to develop a plot from fresh seeds of inspiration. I'm on my 5th year of college study in Creative Writing. I just received a critique on my last piece, and it is time to start another. Past themes in my stories have included: racism and the Neo-Nazi punk scene; methamphetamine abuse in the mid-west of America; spousal abuse and paedophilia; homophobia. I like to write about (what I consider) social diseases, and the people who overcome them.
What will my inspiration be this time?
The answer comes from a poppy. Chosen to signify the blood shed by lost soldiers for Remembrance Day, it also is a symbol for (arguably) Shetland's worst social disease. Heroin abuse. It is destroying lives of many people my age. I read a few years ago that Shetland had the highest number of 18-25 year old heroin addicts per ca-pita in all of Britain. I do not know if this statistic is still true, but I fear the worst. In the last month, over £60,000 of Heroin was busted here, on my island home. That is pretty astronomical, for a population of 21,990.
I've been considering writing a piece about heroin abuse in Shetland for a few years now. In the past, felt as if I did not know enough about the problem. Unfortunately, now I've watched someone (who is a good person underneeth it) turn grey and lethargic. I don't need to say that smack ruins lives; we all know this. However, we must remember that the addiction effects everyone connected to the addict, and not just the one abusing the chemical.
My first published short story involved drug abuse, in 2004. I have not published anything since, but I know I am a better writer now than I was then. Wish me good luck on this painful story. It will be a truly hefty task to do this new piece justice.
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" WARRANT to apprehend a former heroin addict who previously had admitted supplying the Class A drug to a Lerwick teenager was granted at Lerwick Sheriff Court yesterday. [...] Ross had admitted supplying the drug to Megan Chapman [...] Miss Chapman died in early June this year of a suspected, unrelated drug overdose."
[http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_09_2007/Heroin%20dealer%20to%20be%20apprehended.htm]
"THERE have been a further two seizures of heroin in the last 48 hours in Lerwick..."
[http://www.shetlandtoday.co.uk/shetlandtimes/content_details.asp?ContentID=23751]
"James Anthony Farrell, of 100 Athol Street, Liverpool, made no plea or declaration. [...] His arrest followed the seizure of heroin worth around £35,000 at the Holmsgarth ferry terminal, in Lerwick, on Tuesday morning. [...] Police said last night that since beginning of the month they had seized heroin worth almost £60,000."
[http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_09_2007/Police%20seize%20more%20heroin.htm]
"Lerwick men [...] pleaded guilty on two separate and unrelated charges of being involved in supplying heroin. Thomson was found to be in possession of around one ounce of pure heroin at the Holmsgarth ferry terminal, in Lerwick, on 6 August last year. [...]Meanwhile, Cheyne was found to be in possession of a similar amount of heroin when searched at Sumburgh Airport [...]"
[http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_09_2007/Two%20admit%20drug%20dealing.htm]
"A 33 year old woman was arrested for possession of heroin and other suspected drugs in Lerwick..."
[http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_09_2007/Police%20weekend%20report.htm]
"THE MOTHER of a Shetland heroin addict is setting up a group to help the growing number of families plagued by drug abuse..."
[http://www.shetlandtoday.co.uk/Shetlandtimes/content_details.asp?ContentID=23765]
What will my inspiration be this time?
The answer comes from a poppy. Chosen to signify the blood shed by lost soldiers for Remembrance Day, it also is a symbol for (arguably) Shetland's worst social disease. Heroin abuse. It is destroying lives of many people my age. I read a few years ago that Shetland had the highest number of 18-25 year old heroin addicts per ca-pita in all of Britain. I do not know if this statistic is still true, but I fear the worst. In the last month, over £60,000 of Heroin was busted here, on my island home. That is pretty astronomical, for a population of 21,990.
I've been considering writing a piece about heroin abuse in Shetland for a few years now. In the past, felt as if I did not know enough about the problem. Unfortunately, now I've watched someone (who is a good person underneeth it) turn grey and lethargic. I don't need to say that smack ruins lives; we all know this. However, we must remember that the addiction effects everyone connected to the addict, and not just the one abusing the chemical.
My first published short story involved drug abuse, in 2004. I have not published anything since, but I know I am a better writer now than I was then. Wish me good luck on this painful story. It will be a truly hefty task to do this new piece justice.
---------------------------------------------------------
" WARRANT to apprehend a former heroin addict who previously had admitted supplying the Class A drug to a Lerwick teenager was granted at Lerwick Sheriff Court yesterday. [...] Ross had admitted supplying the drug to Megan Chapman [...] Miss Chapman died in early June this year of a suspected, unrelated drug overdose."
[http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_09_2007/Heroin%20dealer%20to%20be%20apprehended.htm]
"THERE have been a further two seizures of heroin in the last 48 hours in Lerwick..."
[http://www.shetlandtoday.co.uk/shetlandtimes/content_details.asp?ContentID=23751]
"James Anthony Farrell, of 100 Athol Street, Liverpool, made no plea or declaration. [...] His arrest followed the seizure of heroin worth around £35,000 at the Holmsgarth ferry terminal, in Lerwick, on Tuesday morning. [...] Police said last night that since beginning of the month they had seized heroin worth almost £60,000."
[http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_09_2007/Police%20seize%20more%20heroin.htm]
"Lerwick men [...] pleaded guilty on two separate and unrelated charges of being involved in supplying heroin. Thomson was found to be in possession of around one ounce of pure heroin at the Holmsgarth ferry terminal, in Lerwick, on 6 August last year. [...]Meanwhile, Cheyne was found to be in possession of a similar amount of heroin when searched at Sumburgh Airport [...]"
[http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_09_2007/Two%20admit%20drug%20dealing.htm]
"A 33 year old woman was arrested for possession of heroin and other suspected drugs in Lerwick..."
[http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_09_2007/Police%20weekend%20report.htm]
"THE MOTHER of a Shetland heroin addict is setting up a group to help the growing number of families plagued by drug abuse..."
[http://www.shetlandtoday.co.uk/Shetlandtimes/content_details.asp?ContentID=23765]
Comments
There is no such thing as an ounce of pure heroin. The maximum purity is about 90% which is the state that it leaves the Taliban. I do not accept that someone had high purity heroin unless they had their own poppy field and diamorphine refinery. It is an awful problem and Liverpool and or Bradford always seem to feature. There is aNn excellent film called They Shoot Jackdaws made by Amber Fims in Newcastle showing the effect of heroin on a fictional rurual community. Good luck with the writing.
charlie barley from lewis
just quoting the news article, charlie barley.
Donna from Shetland
"uncut" not "pure" is maybe the right way to put it.... blame the sheltand times editing staff... i notice typos all the time...
trooker from wastside
i have only one word to say:- SAD
carol from over here
No one could accuse you of frivolity, Donna :-) but good luck with your story. It addresses a very sad and pertinent topic.
Jill from EK
LOL, Trooker. 'sheltand times' editors are not the only ones who suffer from typos
Donna from Shetland
How about doing a thorough investigative piece, Donna, apart from any fiction/story. Different style, but I am confident you could do it. Should be a very good and timely topic.
mjc from NM, USA
*blush*
trooker from wastside
investigative piece .. it would be timely. i have a deadline to meet for my next short story, so I have to pretty much focus all of my attention to that right now. however i have lots of reserch to do, and i am lucky enough to have connections within the drug rehab on Papa Stour. the reserch for this piece could well dredge up enough information for a investigative non-fiction piece. well, i need to get back to my homework. i am officially procrastinating now...
Donna from Shetland
That sounds very appealing...
Flying Cat from Sunshine came softly...
Donna, Good luck on the story. As to procrastinating, blogging is writing too.
CVBruce from CA,USA
If you are to write anything about heroin use in Shetland it might be useful for you if you contacted Shetland Community Drugs Team for info on the local scene?
Gill from Lerwick
being a ex heroin addict, current part time user, I know that those raids are just a drop in a very big pond. Even with all that heroin consumed by the police, I was still able to score the day afterwards. Shetland is prime pickings for heroin dealers all over the country. Mind you, I blame the dogs against drugs, dogs. While well-meaning, dealers in it for the money, a no almost dead animal in shetland as those same people are now just funding habits, used to bring up what they wanted to sell, for most this was cannabis and so called softer drugs. To them now, why risk carrying a 5 kilo bag of cannabis and make a couple of grand, when you can ram a ounce of heroin up your backside and smuggle it with real secrecy. After all a dog sniffing your leg isnt cause for a intimate body search.. Theres a tad of insight. any more questions..
Broon from Shetland
Can you be an ex addict and part-time user, or is this just self-kiddology?
Flying Cat from a hard stare
Probably so much as I'm not physically addicted, I still think about heroin alot. Perhaps I'm just not addicted *as much*... I know that doesnt make much sense, a good spell on methadone at the CDT was enough to never make me want to consume the vast amount I was defiling my body with at the time, ever again.
Broon from Shetland
BROON: if you are interested in talking privately, contact me through : http://bebo.com/donnathedead .. the point of my story is not to vilianize heroin users but to show that addiction is a disease; that heroin addicts are humans; that the people who are close to addicts are effected by their behaviour too. maybe you don't want to be a part of it, but feel welcome in contacting me... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. I know what you mean about Dogs Against Drugs. Lots of people complain about them making the situation worse. in January 2004, Cannabis was reclassified to a Class C drug so that the cops would focus attention on catching 'real' drug dealers, and not teenage soap-heads. Dogs Against Drugs is making people hesitant to smuggle marijuana (class c) and more likely to smuggle class a's; it is true. Since I moved to Shetland, nearly every person in the paper caught by the dogs had hash. have you noticed the shetland times started saying people were caught with 'an amount' of hash... because it was too small to even get real penalties for possession?... i feel this is a waste of money. hash is not ruining shetland. class a's are. ... ... ... ... also I have heard many complain that dogs against drugs was founded due to someone overdosing on a LEGALLY PERSCRIBED drug (methadone)... many issues to consider.
donna from shetland
Whilst I am well aware of the damage that adiction, in its various forms, can do I firmly believe that more damage is caused by prohibition. The drugs that currently worry our society were not illegal a century ago. Read Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes was a recreational cocaine user; the British Empire went to war with China to force the Emperor to open his ports to drug runners in Victorian times. On the other hand the experience of the US in the last century showed that far from preventing the consumption of and addiction to alcohol prohibition only served to encourage the growth of organised crime; a problem the entire world has to deal with to this day. We are now following the same flawed logic. Class A drugs are expensive but this only encourages the criminals who peddle them. Our police cannot cope and our health proffessionals vainly try to mitigate the problem by replacing one addictive drug with another (methadone). I would not wish to encourage addictive behaviour of any sort; drug, alcohol or tobacco but I do feel we need to stop and seriously reconsider our options, Stupidity has been defined as repeating the same action and expecting a different result, 1920s prohibition/current drugs policy?
Hyper-Borean from 221b Baker St
Hyper-Borean: well thought out mini-essay. Bravo! Also trying to portray the alcoholism that is accepted (nay, encouraged) by Shetland culture as the same 'disease' -- addiction.
Donna from Shetland
what do heroin abuse and alcohol have in common?
peerie wife from north mainland
What don't they?
Flying Cat from puzzled&confused
Peerie Wife, part of the answer lies in your question. The commonality lies in the word abuse. Both heroin and alcohol abuse can, and frequently do, amount to addiction; indeed it is arguable that alcohol is the more addictive. It is certainly a more widespread addiction. It is also, arguably, the more dangerous, look at the figures for death and injury attributable to alcohol abuse versus drug abuse. The difference lies in society's attitudes to addiction. Prohibition does not seem to work as a tool for controlling addiction. sadly the alternatives currently practised for alcohol appear to be equally inefective. What is inescapably obvious to me is that we as a society need to take a great deal more notice of addiction in all its forms and try to reduce its deleterious effects.
Hyper-Borean from The Bar
been reading your article on drugs heroin in shetland it is a problem well out of control seems like you can get anywhere but like a lot of things lot of stigma goes with it just like someone having a dissability and being made to feel worthless even when they try to keep a job and try to lead a normal life like the rest of us have you done anything at uni about dissabilitys as you have seem to be done a lot of interesting things so far dissability covers a wide range from physical to mental health or learning dissability good luck on your topic about drugs
peerietreat from mainland
Indeed peerietreat, I've watched people try to claw their lives back after the ever so democratic public spectacle of being charged with heroin crimes and appearing in the local rag. Two things are certain after that, 1. Your never going to be able to forget about it and live a normal life, 2. People arent going to let you forget about it. These are the joys of living on a rock. I would no more throw down some banter in a pub about a recovering, current or previous heroin addict than I would someone with a physical or more socially acceptable ailment. Society isnt going to be changing anytime soon. The witch hunt will continue, after all its the only way people know how to deal with it.
Broon from Shetland
well said broon people need to be more educated on all of these issues i have someone in my family who has been affected by drugs and dissability the later being realy victimised about how he is called a retard and spastic etc its very downgrading for the person and hurtful for the family as they didnt ask to be like that hopefully someday these ignorant people will realise what they are doing and your right living in a small comunity mud sticks
peerietreat from the mainland
Again, some people are very nice, or plain human. Others are morally ugly fruits, nasty to the core. Stick to the sunny side, and ignore or confront the sods. # Addiction: it's not all a question of freewill (though I would not knock the element of freewill/responsibility), but a lot of it can be traced to genetics, and the luck of the draw. # "There but for mother luck go I" should lead one to a charitable disposition. Why - so very often - it does not astonishes me.
mjc from NM,USA
what is sad... everyone in shetland under 25 knows someone who is on drugs. first time i saw people using class a drugs was at a party. i was 14 years old. my story is not uncommon. we are all effected by shetlands drug problem. and peerie wife, shetlands alcoholism is more widespread than drug use.
Trooker from Wastside
I live like a hermit in an island paradise, planning my survival of the impending apocalypse.
My mother is a Sheltie and my father is American. As a dual-citizen, I have lived between both cultures. I only use my UK passport these days. I made the Atlandic leap, back to Shetland. This is the only place I ever considered 'home.'
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