hallucinogens than can be taken with mdma etc What would you recommend that could be mixed with mdma that would give you a trip at the same time as a high?
Some of the best pills I've had would give this type of effect
Or a recommendation of something that would do both
Not acid, it's good fun for a hour or so but not all night. Preferably something i could get online.12
Legal Extasy / XTC / Ecstasy What does everyone think of the legal Ecstasy equivalents or 'herbal highs' such as Liquid C, Tatanka, Nxt Phase, E-booster and such? What are their effects and how do they compare to the real Mc Coy?:mobile_ph1234
MDMA saved my marriage and and turned me into a passionate Lover After five years of marriage , kids , long work hours just about destroyed my marriage. Until I experienced MDMA it changed my life forever (sex-life) From an average lover to a very steamy passionate lover.
My Question is how many relationships has MDMA got back on track and brought people closer to together please let's see how many good things have come from MDMA.
Please tell us how MDMA has helped in your life.12
Ecstasy? or not..? Timeline:
9:00 - 11:00PM: 4 pints beer
1145PM: 125mg mdma bombed
1215AM: Half an E? pill taken from bloke in queue
0100AM: additional 125mg mdma bombed
0140AM: Marijuana smoked
Okay, this guy who i'll call F and a few of his mates were going to a drum and bass/dubstep night in birmingham, and had some crystal form MDMA for the night. They crushed the crystals into powder and wrapped it in rizlas to form bombs.
He started drinking beers at about 9PM; everyone was looking forward to the night, the vibe was nice. F got through 4 pints of beer by the time they arrived at the event, about 1145PM. At this point, he and a few friends dropped their first bomb of MDMA.
The queue was pretty long, so they got chatting to some randomers for a while. One particular guy who didn't seem in a great way (about 45 years old, probably too much alcohol) showed us some small white pills he had (maybe 6mm diameter, 5mm tall) and said he was afraid to take them on his own. He said he'd break a pill in half, and take one half if F did the same with the other half afterwards. F was slightly intoxicated by the alcohol, and (yes very stupidly) agreed and dropped half of this pill at about 1215AM, thought nothing of it.
They got inside the rave and went for a cigarette, after the smoke the MDMA was setting in and everyone felt like going to dance. After dancing for about 45 minutes and peaking on the first bomb of MDMA, F and some others decided to drop another similar bomb. They continued dancing until about 0130AM, then figured it'd be a good idea to grab a pint of water and smoke a blunt outside.
They went outside passed the blunt around, having a great time. Everyone found socialising very easy and were all vibing to the music. At about 0145AM they went back inside, F particularly was loving it, felt absolutely great.
This is where it gets ugly, at about 0155AM completely out of nowhere, F started getting really scared and freaked out and said he had to go outside. He didnt really seem to know where he was going but eventually found his way onto the smokers terrace. He realised he was in a bad way, he noticed everyone around him was leaving trails behind them, and people who were talking weren't saying real words.
He stood on his own for about 30 minutes, with increasingly bad waves of paranoia and anxiousness spreading through him. He was getting really bad tunnel vision, the tunnel would get smaller and smaller and F thought that if the tunnel completely filled his vision, he would die. He was very scared at this point and began to wonder what was in the pill he had taken.
He eventually recieved a text from his friend and replied that they should come outside. They report F was looking very pale, with very little focus in his eyes and he looked in a bad way. The buzz from the MDMA had not completely left him, however the tunnel vision came back in waves and everytime it returned the feeling of death would also return. Along with rapidly changing body temperature, F was having huge trouble moving his limbs, he opted to go for a walk so he didnt completely freeze up which was very difficult for him.
Even in his poor state he seemed to be handling himself well, he was able to communicate with the people around him who could tell he was in a bad way. He spoke to a guy who was often around the venue, and told this guy he'd taken half a mysterious pill. The guy told F that there's been some dodgy pills around lately, and a lot of people had been hitting the deck, vomiting, and then remaining almost motionless for several hours with a puckering look in their faces.
F remained outside on the smokers terrace until about 0430AM, smoked a joint, and finally felt ready to go inside. He went through to the toilet, had a piss, then went to dance. The trippiness had subsided a lot, the paranoia and tunnel vision completely. This lasted about an hour, and F had the time of his life dancing to the music. Then again, the tripping and paranoia returned so F decided he would go outside the front and wait for his friends out there.
They came out, and they all made their way home on a minibus. As F was on his way home, he kept seeing buildings and signs that weren't there, he saw a girl sitting on a guys lap in the front of the bus who wasn't actually there. Finally he got home, and had a very poor sleep between about 0830AM and 1500PM.
F describes this as a horrible experience, and hopes that this accurate report will help him find out what he has taken. He's done a fair amount of research and suspects PMA.
Thanks for reading.123
MDMA and Piracetam For those seeking to re-ignite the virgin mdma euphoria, what you may have read about piracetam as a potentiator appears to be true.
I'm not normally one for precise measurements, dosage calculations and trip reports but this has interested me for some time, so for the last 2 weeks I've been taking 2400mg piracetam daily. Last night I took 200mg of pure md crystal.
I'm pleased to report that there was a highly significant enhancement...even some rather pleasant nausea which I haven't felt for yrs! There was genuine euphoria, blurred vision, eyeball rolling blah blah, all of which I would not usually get from 200mg. I went to top-up with another 100mg after an hour or so but in my gibbering state ended up dropping it all over the carpet...coordination useless I gave up, returned to the sofa, listened to some music and gurned a little.
Effects wore off slowly by about 2-3am - I felt like a cheeky line of mxe (about 100mg). What followed was a surprise...the usual familiar unfamiliarity (or vice versa), standing about the house knowing exactly what everything is but not really knowing what anything is. Somehow I ended up in bed with just my socks on, and this apathetic unknowingness carried on for approx 6hrs (quite nice really). Scraped myself out of bed about 8.30am still feeling very wonkey. Took the dog for a walk at around 10am - couldn't focus or walk properly, light headed, came home, nearly passed out, had a shower...still feel decidedly weird, although not unpleasent...farts do smell rather unpleasent however!
I had a higher dose of mxe a couple of weeks back (before the piracetam regime) and it didn't have such a profound effect. I haven't looked at any other reports concerning piracetam as a potentiator of ketamine analogs but from what I experienced last night I would say it certainly works for both mdma and mxe (and presumably ketamine). I can still feel the mxe 12hrs later!
Oh, in case you were wondering, piracetam is a legal, non-toxic cognitive enhancer with no side effects. 2400mg daily is a fairly low dose.
That's all!12
MDMA – amount Hi
In my friendship group, I usually sort out the drugs, buy them, prepare them (if necessary) and distribute them to my friends. I didn’t particularly want to take on this role, but I’m good at getting hold of stuff and I can be relied on not to lose them.
After a weekend of raving, my best friend and I ended up having an argument. We had a good first night on mdma, but she didn’t have a good time on the second night. We all had a tab of acid, (pretty weak), and more of the same mdma, but for some reason she just didn’t get high or feel the effects of the acid (the rest of us did a bit) The next morning, she blamed me, and said that she’d had a bad time because she isn’t in charge of her own drugs, and doesn’t like sharing because then she feels like she can’t have enough. I had plenty on me, and she’s never asked for them and been refused. But she says she needs half a gram to have a good night.
So, here’s my point, is half a gram of (strong) mdma a lot for a night out? I think it is, and I actually have realised that I have better nights out when I take a bit of md, instead of destroying myself on it. What does everyone else think? Appreciate any comments.12
MMC or MDMA last week I had my first taste of pure Manndy it was first calss enjoy very min of it. But to I got from clean MMC for a top lad :) and for me it's better by miles. 22 years of coke , e's and fun stuff MMC just hit's the spot for me bang on!! Why the fuck did they ban it assholes!!!!!123
MDMA Pics And Bioassay Bioassay:
120mg
Effects are very slow to come on:
~30 minutes to feel a warm wave beginning to encompass my body.
~60 minutes to feel full blown effects.
Words that come to mind are “clean” “warmth” “euphoric” “innocent” “beautiful” “ecstacy” “bliss”.
Very clean with less emphasis on the speedy aspect and more emphasis on the pure ecstacy aspect.
I've suffered from anxiety and depression in the past, but there is hardly any anxiety and definitely no depression.
Feel like I'm in a sea of music and art seeing the world from a new perspective.
Any feelings of hate, greed, anxiety, negativity, jealousy are cleansed from my system and the world seems beautiful again.
The time and effort I spent cleaning and purifying this substance have rewarded me 100 fold.
Pics:
NL : Translation of official government advice on Ecstasy (XTC) This is taken from the Government site of the Netherlands (equivalent to gov.uk site). Since 2010 not everything is translated into English as it used to be (probably budget cuts and trying to encourage people to learn Dutch). The advice seems straightforward and down to earth - I managed to translate the bulk of it without "cheating", only going to Google Translate for the more difficult words raaa (if I have made some big mistakes, any native speakers are welcome to suggest corrections).
XTC
XTC-pillen en capsules zijn populair in Nederland, vooral in het uitgaansleven. XTC is een synthetische drug die de gebruiker vaak een energiek en blij gevoel geeft.
Sommige mensen denken onterecht dat XTC een onschuldig middel is. Ieder jaar overlijden er mensen na het gebruik van XTC. Meestal zijn dat jongeren.
Vooral mensen die een hart- of vaatziekte, suikerziekte of epilepsie hebben, lopen extra gevaar bij XTC-gebruik. Ook voor gezonde gebruikers zijn er risico's. Zij kunnen hersenbeschadigingen oplopen met als gevolg geheugenverlies, depressies en andere psychische problemen.
Strafbaarheid XTC
XTC valt in Nederland onder de Opiumwet in de categorie harddrugs. Het produceren, verhandelen en bezit van XTC is verboden en wordt streng bestraft. De productie van en handel in XTC zijn zeer aantrekkelijk voor criminelen in Nederland, omdat de productiekosten laag zijn. In kleine laboratoria kunnen in korte tijd grote aantallen XTC-tabletten worden gemaakt. Naast kleine laboratoria worden overigens ook steeds meer grote professionele labs ontdekt.
Aanpak synthetische drugs
Nederland wordt in het buitenland vaak genoemd als XTC-producerend land en doorvoerland. De Nederlandse overheid erkent het XTC-probleem en treft maatregelen om de XTC-productie en -handel terug te dringen.
De nota Samenspannen tegen XTC omvat een vijfjarenplan waarin een forse intensivering van de aanpak van synthetische drugs werd aangekondigd. Uit de evaluatie bleek dat de aanpak goede resultaten heeft opgeleverd. Zo werden er in 4 jaar tijd honderden verdachten aangehouden, meer dan 20 miljoen XTC-tabletten onderschept en rond de 130 productielaboratoria opgerold. Omdat er nog steeds op grote schaal productie van XTC in Nederland plaatsvindt en XTC ook ruim voorhanden is op de gebruikersmarkt, is in 2007 besloten de intensieve aanpak voort te zetten. Er zijn inmiddels tekenen dat een deel van de productie naar het buitenland verplaatst is.
Drugssmokkel
In Nederland krijg je voor XTC-smokkel maximaal 12 jaar gevangenisstraf en/of een boete van maximaal € 45.000. Ook in veel andere (Europese) landen krijg je een flinke boete. In sommige landen kan je zelfs veroordeeld worden tot de doodstraf.
Hoe hoog straffen in het buitenland zijn voor drugssmokkel is moeilijk aan te geven.XTC pills and capsules are popular in the Netherlands, especially in the nightlife. XTC is a synthetic drug that gives the user and energetic and happy feeling.
some people think that XTC is harmless. each year people die from the use of XTC. Most of them are youths.
Especially for people with heart or vascular (circulation) diseases, diabetes or epilepsy, there is a greater risk from XTC-use. There are also risks to healthy users. They can also incur brain damage resulting in memory loss, depression and other psychiatric problems.
Legal penalties for XTC
XTC comes under the Opium law in the Netherlands (this is like our Misuse of Drugs Act in UK) and is classed in hard drugs category. The production, trade and posession of XTC is forbidden and will be strongly punished. The production and dealling in XTC is very attractive for criminals in the Netherlands, because the production costs are low. Large numbers of XTC-tablets can be made in a short time in small laboratories. As well as small labs, increasngly large professional laboratories are discovered.
Approach to synthetic drugs
The Netherlands is often known overseas as an XTC-producing and trafficking nation.
The Dutch Government recognises the XTC-problem and takes action to reduce XTC-production and dealing.
The Samenspannen paper (this is a 148 page paper which is beyond me to translate!!) includes a 5 year plan wherein a strong intensification of the approach to (combating) synthetic drugs has been announced.
in 4 years hundreds of suspects were arrested, more than 20 million XTC-tablets sezied and about 130 production labs shut down. Because there still is great production of XTC in the Ntherlands, and it remains readily available to users, in 2007 it was decided to continue the approach.
There are now signs that part of the production (of XTC) has moved overseas.
Drug Trafficking.
In the Netherlands, you can get a penalty for XTC-trafficking are 12 years in prison and/or a maximum fine of €45 000. Also in many other European countries there is a heavy fine. In some countries you can receive the death penalty. It is diffcult to say (from the POV of the NL justice ministry!) how high penalties are in other nations for drugs trafficking.
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/drugs/harddrugs/xtc
band with the pillhead dancing around… please help? hello chaps... have had a massive mental block and can't remember the name of that band that has that geeza on pills dancing around like a loon in all the vids... can anyone help?
much love :love:
xxx
Recreational Drug Wars (Ecstasy and the alcohol industry)
When market analysts reported Ecstasy use in the UK was leading to significant drops in alcohol sales, the drinks industry went strategic. Jim Carey investigates the behind the scenes battle for drug loyalty.
For the second year in succession, the then Chancellor Kenneth Clarke punctuated his 1996 budget speech with swigs of malt whiskey. For the alcohol industry, the event provided multiple cause for celebration. Not only had the Chancellor gifted them with another prime piece of televisual product placement, he had also boosted industry hopes of increased sales by cutting tax on alcoholic spirits.
In the same parliamentary year, the British government backed a private members bill giving local authorities the power to close dance clubs if police report evidence of drug taking. During the passage of the Public Entertainments (Drug Misuse) Bill, particular and persistent reference was made to Ecstasy as the prime target of the new law.
To the alcohol industry, any measures which clamp down on the recreational use of Ecstasy are only likely to increase sales of their product. With the recreational effects of E diminished by alcohol consumption, people taking Ecstasy tend to drink far less alcohol. This encroachment on the alcohol industry's domination of the market became financially significant in the late eighties, when an exploding rave culture in the UK swung youth preference away from alcohol and pubs, towards Ecstasy and communal dancing.
A report on Leisure Futures, published in 1993 by influential market analysts, the Henley Centre, revealed that between 1987 and 1992, pub attendance in the UK fell by 11%, with a projected 20% decrease by 1997. Estimates used in the report suggested the percentage of 16-24s taking any illegal drug doubled to nearly 30 per cent between 1989 and 1992. Using a rather conservative estimate suggesting one million people attend licensed raves each week, the Centre estimated UK ravers were spending £1.8 billion a year on entrance fees, cigarettes and illegal drugs.
The report concludes: "This of course poses a significant threat to spending for such sectors as licensed drinks retailers and drink companies. Firstly some young people are turning away from alcohol to other stimulants; secondly raves are extremely time consuming and displace much of the time and energy which might have been expended on other leisure activities like pubs or drinking at home." [1] Indeed, as Richard Carr, chairman of the alcohol conglomerate Allied-Tetley-Lyons said: "You .......???????
In presenting the Public Entertainments (Drug Misuse) Bill, MP Barry Legg noted that "there was a lot of money involved in the business" and that the new bill would "squeeze every penny of profit from the drug dealers".[2] Indeed, profit levels attainable from the sale of alcohol are the kind which command considerable political lobbying power. Evidence suggests that this power has been regularly employed in a sophisticated marketing war waged between the alcohol industry and rave culture since the late eighties.
In 1989, a new public relations alliance was formed by the UK's leading alcohol companies. Instrumental in setting the ball rolling was Lord Wakeham, a Tory peer and then chairman of the Ministerial Group on Alcohol Issues, According to Anthony Hurse, civil servant at the Department of Health: "Lord Wakeham made it clear to the alcohol industry that he would like the industry's collaboration. He spoke to Peter Mitchell [Director of Strategic Affairs] at Guinness who agreed he'd do what he could." [3] As a consequence of Wakeham's suggestions, the UK's seven leading alcohol companies including Whitbread, Bass and Seagram, launched a new PR organisation from the headquarters of Guinness plc in London's Portman Square.
The Portman Group's publicly stated aim is "to promote sensible drinking" However, according to Professor Nick Heather, Director of the Newcastle Centre for Alcohol and Drug Studies, the Group's real agenda is rather different: "The attempt to distance alcohol as a drug from other kinds of drug and to give it a good face is the main activity of groups like the Portman Group." [3] One measure of the alcohol industry's success in this PR battle is revealed by a comparison of drug mortality rates. For whilst Tobacco tops the drug associated deaths league with over 100,000 deaths a year, alcohol comes second with approximately 25,000, and Ecstasy - implicated in around 12 deaths a year - actually poling lower than Paracetomol with around 180 a year. Although varying definitions of drug associated mortality make it difficult to be accurate with such statistics, the glaring gaps between the relative approximations speak for themselves.
Amendments to the Coroners Rules in 1994 even dispensed with the requirement for an inquest in all cases involving alcoholism.
With over £1 billion being cut from government research funding over the last ten years, scientists have been forced to compete for private funding. The Portman Group is just one of the many corporate interests which have populated this funding vacuum.
In late 1994, the Portman Group operated a scheme which offered medical scientists £2000 pending their agreement to criticise a damning new book on alcohol. Published in 1994 in conjunction with the World Health Organisation, 'Alcohol and the Public Good' was unequivocal in its emphasis on the connection between alcohol and ill heath. [4] According to Professor Griffith Edwards, emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of London and chairman of the team which compiled the report:
"The Portman Group is using sleaze tactics to try to undermine this work. It is the result of an extensive review of scientific research by 17 contributors from nine countries, none of whom has been paid a penny or will receive any royalties.
By offering money and anonymity to academics to attack their colleagues, the industry has poisoned the springs of healthy academic debate." [5] Professor Edwards also reports being offered a charitable donation from the Portman Group pending his agreement not to use the phrase "alcohol and other drugs" in future reports. [3] One of the people helping to facilitate this 'cash for criticism' scheme was Dr John Duffy, a member of the Edinburgh University Alcohol Research Group.
This supposedly independent medical research unit was set up in 1978 with core funding from the Scotch Whiskey Association and is now heavily funded by the Portman Group. In a letter to a national newspaper, Dr John Rae, director of the Portman Group, defended this backing saying: "We fund Edinburgh University because its alcohol research group is the best in the country." [6] However, as Douglas Cameron, a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Substance Abuse at the University of Leicester and former advisor to the Portman Group, recently stated: "I think that the drinks industry have made every attempt to drive the research agenda in the direction it wants it driven." [3] Indeed, the Edinburgh Unit is well known for its scientific support of the tangible health benefits of alcohol.
Perhaps more damning, given the current socio-political preoccupation with law and order, is the British Medical Association's (BMA) report on alcohol and crime published once again in the late eighties. This report highlighted alcohol's association with 60-70 per cent of homicides, 75 per cent of stabbings and 50 per cent of domestic assaults. [7] According to an ex-rave music plugger at Virgin records: "There are so many stories about Ecstasy that lie below the surface. Big rave events that I was involved with in the past had a very low police presence compared to the big rock festivals I've been involved with where there's alcohol. They knew people were going to be loved up and not violent." [8] Ironically this interviewee asked to remain anonymous because of his current connections with the advertising industry.
Ignoring advice from almost the entire medical establishment, the Secretary of State for Health (Stephen Dorrell) raised his departments officially recommended weekly limits of alcohol by 33% in 1995. In response, Dr Maristella Monteiro, a medical officer for the World Health Organisation, accused the British government of "being in the pocket of the drinks industry" [9].
The first legislative victory for the alcohol industry in its battle for market control, came in the form of the Entertainment (Increased Penalties) Act in 1990. This successful private members bill was introduced by Graham Bright (Con MP Luton South), who referred to it as "the acid house party bill". The new law placed humungous fines of up to £20,000 on the organisers of unlicensed raves and had a highly detrimental affect on an exploding new culture with its impromptu venues.
At the time, Graham Bright was parliamentary private secretary to Prime Minister John Major, a post he held for four years. Since 1979, Bright had represented Luton as an MP, a town which hosts the headquarters of one of the UK's leading brewery companies, Whitbread plc. Samuel Whitbread is Lord Lieutenant of Bright's home county, Bedfordshire When the now infamous 'Cash for Questions' scandal broke in the British media in 1994, Tory MP Neil Hamilton's greedy associations with lobbyists, Ian Greer Associates, took centre stage. In contrast, Graham Bright escaped lightly, despite implicating associations with both Ian Greer Associates and some of Ian Greer's clients, including Whitbread.
Evidence of Bright's associations with the scandal were exposed in a Cook Report programme prepared by Central TV. The programme revealed documents written by Ian Greer Associates, revealing Graham Bright to be one of the lobby firm's conduits to political influence.
Although one of the most eagerly awaited documentaries of the year, the programme was inexplicably pulled from the broadcasting schedule by the heads of Carlton TV. Since that date leaked transcripts of the programme have been used to reconstruct parts of the censored programme and broadcast on Channel Four. [10] As the 'Cash for Questions' scandal began breaking in the media in 1994, Graham Bright was quietly dismissed as PPS to John Major, given a knighthood and sidelined as one three vice chairmen of the Conservative Party.
As a result of the scandal, Ian Greer Associates finally went into liquidation in 1996, but not before they had acted on behalf of Whitbread plc in helping to establish a parliamentary beer club. With its 125 member MPs including Chancellor Kenneth Clarke, it is now the largest industrial group within parliament.
Indeed, Greer's firm sent a proposal to Whitbread in 1993 that read: "Members of the beer club can be encouraged to raise excise at treasury questions but also through, early day motions, adjournment debates and private members business". At the time, Greer's firm was receiving £30,000 a year from Whitbread for their services. Although the most silent MP in the House of Commons for two years running, Graham Bright certainly knew to how to get things done as "private members business". His 1990 anti-rave legislation was one of a minority of private members bills that actually becomes law.
Ian Greer also recommended the use of "co-ordinated parliamentary pressure, using the beer club and other friends of Whitbread." [11] Indeed, primary culprit in the 'Cash for Questions' scandal, Neil Hamilton, acted as parliamentary consultant to the Brewers Society from 1987 to 1989 [12], whilst Conservative MP James Couchman, personal private secretary to the Leader of the House of Commons, is also an advisor to the Gin and Vodka Association.
Despite this web of political manipulation, the alcohol industry's involvement in the lobbying scandal received scant attention.
The sophisticated response to the market threat posed by Ecstasy has been multi-media in its strategy. When Tory MP, Iain Mills died from 'acute alcohol intoxication' following an excess of dry gin at the beginning of 1997, the newspapers reported the story in terms of his "lonely life". A understated approach when viewed in contrast to the media reaction to one of the rather less frequent Ecstasy related deaths. Complicity in the distribution of relative misinformation about these two drugs is commonplace in both national and regional media, with many such media-sources have economic interests in maintaining good relations with the alcohol industry. Whitbread alone spend £20 million on marketing and advertising each year.
Advertising, described as "the science of influencing public opinion", has borrowed heavily from images taken from rave culture, even though it has been harnessed to usurp that very culture. One recent television advertisement for Holsten Pils shown in the UK, illustrates the point: An actor, clutching a bottle of the aforesaid lager, strolls through a fantastically coloured computer simulated landscape. In the closing shot, a smiley yellow tablet comes zooming out of the sky and, in idiotic voice tones, advises the actor to "get wired man". The actor, replies "Get a life sucker" before pulling on a string to deflate the tablet like a spent balloon. The connotations are obvious.
Meanwhile alcohol companies like Seagram (Absolut Vodka), Holsten, Grolsch and Fosters are blitzing youth culture magazines with specially targeted advertising campaigns designed to re-establish alcohol as a drug of youth preference.
Alcoholic soft drinks have exploded onto the market with extraordinary economic success. Within six months of being introduced to Norway, in 1996, Hooper's Hooch alcoholic lemonade had overtaken all foreign beer sales in the country. [13] The company which makes Hooch is the UK's largest alcoholic drinks company Bass, co-sponsors of the Portman Group. According to Sir Donald Acheson, president of the British Medical Association and ex-Government Chief Medical Officer: "It seems self-evident that alcopops appeal to those who are still drinking soft drinks. They might have a tendency to habituate people to alcohol in childhood." [14] Ironically, the Portman Group issued a press release in 1996 recommending that children should be allowed a certain amount of alcohol, claiming it would help them know how to handle it in later life.
So whilst Gordon's try to rejuvenate dry gin's greying image with athletic male models and bubbles, Seagram now operate an Absolut Vodka bar in one of London's most well known and politically connected dance clubs, the Ministry of Sound.
"Absolut is hip at the moment in trendy clubs," says Mike Mathieson, founding director of youth marketing and PR company FFI. "There's a bit of a return to alcohol, which seems to be the new Ecstasy substitute." [15] Interestingly, FFI are the company which provided the street lingo for one of the most unusual anti-Ecstasy advertising campaigns.
In the week following Leah Bett's funeral 1,500 billboard poster sites displayed a picture of the teenager lying comatose in hospital. In large lettering next to the photo was the word 'SORTED', and in smaller lettering 'JUST ONE TABLET OF ECSTASY TOOK LEAH BETTS'.
The deluge of anti-Ecstasy commentary following Leah's death in 1995 pumped wild and alarming conclusions into the public's perception of E. In fact it was Leah's fourth Ecstasy tablet, not her first and on the night of her death she had also been drinking alcohol. As the nearest person the UK has to an expert on Ecstasy, Dr John Henry, scientific advisor to the National Poisons Unit, was interviewed by just about every national newspaper. His quotes were used as 'authoritative scientific' back up for emphatic media tirades against Ecstasy.
However, according to Dr Henry: "There was an over reaction to her death. An awful lot was made of it that I don't think was very scientific at all because the press were jumping on every word. I had things served up to me by journalists. It makes serious discussion very difficult." [16] When the inquest into Leah's death confirmed she had died from drinking too much water, journalists took less notice. Asked what Leah's death teaches us scientifically, Dr Henry is less dismissive of the truth: "It teaches us that if you take a lot of fluid suddenly when you've got no reason to do so, it's dangerous."
As the vast majority of Ecstasy related deaths have thus far been associated with dehydration, a common myth had circulated that water was an antidote to the chemical effects of Ecstasy. Drug Education experts argue that Leah's death was likely to have resulted from misinformation and that misinformation is the greatest danger.
It was also the greatest criticism levelled at the dramatic but inaccurate Leah Betts/Sorted posters. This unusual poster campaign was that it had been constructed by three advertising companies. Media Buyers, Booth Lockett and Makin - advertising agency, Knight Leech and Delaney and youth marketing consultants, FFI. The most remarkable aspect of the campaign was that each of the companies involved in the organisation and design of the project gave their time and work for free; highly unusual in a commercial advertising industry that would normally have netted £1 million in design, consultancy and site fees for such a campaign. Booth, Lockett and Makin even split the costs of printing with Knight Leech and Delaney.
There are many possible motives for this campaign, including prestige, creative design freedom and the personally held beliefs of some of the advertising executive's involved. However, one contributory factor which precludes any of the altruistic intent portrayed by the companies themselves can be found by examining their client portfolios. For whilst Booth, Lockett and Makin have Lowenbrau as a major client, both Knight Leech and Delaney and FFI represent the 'energy' soft drink company, Red Bull.
"There's a growth in the energy drinks area and it's very competitive," says FFI's Mike Mathieson. "We do PR for Red Bull for example and we do a lot of clubs. It's very popular at the moment because it's a substitute for taking Ecstasy."
Indeed, Red Bull are the joint most lucrative client on Knight Leech and Delaney's books, providing £5 million worth of business. The 'Sorted' campaign presented obvious commercial benefits to their client's product and therefore also to the advertising company's reputation as successful marketeers. The reverberations went far and wide, with Granada TV even making a programme for schools off the back of the campaign.
The emerging implications of this investigation are not that alcohol is bad and Ecstasy good; both drugs have their pros and cons. Instead it reveals the need for an unfettered public debate.
When the Secretary of State for Health increased the officially recommended alcohol limits in 1995, he defended his manoeuvre thus: "Alcohol consumption will always be a major public health issue and it is important for the government to present a balanced view which recognises the risks but also offers soundly based and credible advice on which people can base their own choices."
Were this an approach applied to other recreational drugs, his statement might have been welcomed as a move to a more honest debate. Instead its selective application to alcohol is indicative of that industry's deep seated influence on national politics and culture. One drug has been made socially acceptable whilst the other has not, with the criteria for this selective demonisation having more to do with the pollution of public information by corporate interests than it does with concerns for public safety.
References: (1) 'Leisure Futures' pub The Henley Centre 1993. Price £374.
(2) Hansard 17/1/97 Col 525 -
(3) Dispatches Channel Four 12/12/96 produced by Ray Fitzwalter Assoc.
(4) 'Alcohol and the Public Good' by Prof. Griffith Edwards et al. pub Oxford University Press 1994.
(5) Letter to The Independent 5/12/94
(6) Letter to The Independent 7/12/94
(7) Guide to Alcohol and Accidents. British Medical Association 1989.
(8) Personal Interview on tape
(9) The Independent 13/12/96
(10) Dispatches Channel Four 16/1/97 produced by Fulcrum Prod.
(11) The Observer 20/10/96
(12) Private Eye No. 910 1/11/96
(13) Folket 15/11/96
(14) Daily Telegraph 6/12/96
(15) Personal Interview on tape with Mike Mathieson
(16) Personal Interview on tape with Dr John Henry
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