Mephedrone ‘on sale at schools’ in and around North Yorkshire (From York Press)
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This campaign by The Press intends to make the drug mephedrone illegal.
The drug, commonly known as bubbles, meow, meow or M-CAT, which can cost as little as £3 a dose, is becoming increasingly popular among young people in North and East Yorkshire, but its effects can be devastating.
Phone Jennifer Bell at The Press on 01904 653051 ext 315 or email jennifer.bell@thepress.co.uk for further details.
Mephedrone ‘on sale at schools’ in and around North Yorkshire
9:52am Tuesday 26th January 2010 in
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- By Richard Catton » richard.catton@thepress.co.uk
THE deadly “legal high” drug mephedrone is being bought and sold in and around North Yorkshire schools, according to a local police sergeant.
As The Press’s campaign to outlaw mephedrone enters its second week, Sgt Geoff Crocker warned: “A lot of parents may think it’s safe because it’s legal, but it’s anything but.”
He said: “We know people are buying the drug as plant food and then selling it on. We know it’s being sold around schools and, in some cases by pupils in schools.
“There are so many types of legal high and the one that’s most prevalent at the moment is mephedrone.”
He said those who sold the drug were using the internet to market the product, which can be sold legitimately as plant feed.
He said: “Because it’s legal to buy this plant food, internet companies will pretend to be selling garden forks and greenhouses but when you try to buy one it’s out of stock and the site is a front to sell mephedrone.”
Sgt Crocker, who is based in Harrogate, said the presence of the drug was no more prevalent in the town than anywhere else in North Yorkshire, but said the force had been working closely with schools and the council to educate people.
He said: “We are finding a lot of kids are shying away from it because the way to take it is by snorting it and they see it as a drug.
“The refreshing thing is a lot of kids want nothing to do with them.”
However, he said: “We know it causes nose bleeds and turns limbs purple and we know there’s been a death in Durham.
“We know it grows plants very nicely, but we don’t know what it does to the human body"
Sign our petition, which calls for the Government to classify mephedrone as an illegal substance.
Comments(16)
consumer
says...
10:19am Tue 26 Jan 10
jake the snake
says...
11:01am Tue 26 Jan 10
josephheller
says...
11:13am Tue 26 Jan 10
Legal high doesn't mean anything, legal highs are not a particular sort of drug, they range from the utterly harmless to the incredibly potent - it's a very dangerous phrase because the definition is so loose and just an arbitrary legal grouping.
"The one that's prevalent at the moment..." sounds as though all legal highs are variants on strong substances such as Mephedrone.
consumer
says...
11:24am Tue 26 Jan 10
jake the snake wrote:What you need to explain, if you think this shoddy little 'campaign' is something positive and is making some kind of contribution, is why you think prohibition is the way forward, given that it has failed to stop people taking other drugs and has in fact made use of those drugs more damaging both to the individuals taking them and the wider community. You also need to let us know if you think alcohol and tobacco should be criminalised given that they are both more harmful, and their use more widespread, than mephedrone.
some of these comments are awful.unless you have teenagers then you donot understand the damage this drug is doing to the teenagers and there families.some people obviously thinks its acceptable for children in schools to be taking this drug as well.uyou are trying to tell me that most of these kids all have issues at home.why is it first reaction is lets blame the parents
consumer
says...
11:28am Tue 26 Jan 10
http://www.sendspace
.com/file/a19g1y
Henry Swanson
says...
12:26pm Tue 26 Jan 10
jake the snake wrote:Its not a new thing though, when I was at school you could buy w££d from people, that was illegal....
some of these comments are awful.unless you have teenagers then you donot understand the damage this drug is doing to the teenagers and there families.some people obviously thinks its acceptable for children in schools to be taking this drug as well.uyou are trying to tell me that most of these kids all have issues at home.why is it first reaction is lets blame the parents
If kids wanna buy the stuff they will find a way, make it illegal and its not going to change a **** thing, anyone who thinks it will is naive to say the least.
Also, I'd wager that the number of kids who need their stomachs pumped from drinking their own body weight in cheap cider is much higher than those who end up in hospital from this drug.... shock horror, you cant buy alcohol if your under 18 yet somehow, miraculously, the kids manage it!
Silver
says...
2:21pm Tue 26 Jan 10
Ok so any kids with purple arms or legs should be yelled at by their parents. Easily found and easily sorted
meme
says...
2:40pm Tue 26 Jan 10
But that does not mean its right.
However kids will always find a way to experiment as i did as a kid its a part of growing up The secret is to ensure they dont go too far and in my view thats a parental responsibility
I have 3 kids now just grown up and i have no doubt they experimented and possibly still do with things i do not agree with or condone but they have been taught the dangers and risks involved and i have kept a beady eye on them for signs of things going wrong and hopefully nipped any big issues in the bud
Thats what Mums and dads are for but there will always be kids and probable parents who are irresponsible/uncont
rollable/imatture
who cannot be legislated for and will always getinto trouble
Thats a fact of life and will never be changed
mystic_genius
says...
4:50pm Tue 26 Jan 10
meme wrote:Couldn't agree more. Well said.
of course its sold in schools ITS LEGAL TO DO SO But that does not mean its right. However kids will always find a way to experiment as i did as a kid its a part of growing up The secret is to ensure they dont go too far and in my view thats a parental responsibility I have 3 kids now just grown up and i have no doubt they experimented and possibly still do with things i do not agree with or condone but they have been taught the dangers and risks involved and i have kept a beady eye on them for signs of things going wrong and hopefully nipped any big issues in the bud Thats what Mums and dads are for but there will always be kids and probable parents who are irresponsible/uncont rollable/imatture who cannot be legislated for and will always getinto trouble Thats a fact of life and will never be changed
Theendoftheworld
says...
7:13pm Tue 26 Jan 10
Pedro
says...
8:03pm Tue 26 Jan 10
King Edward wrote:It has no effect on plants. It is just a legal work-around. It says on the package "not for human consumption" - so as long as your child obeys the instructions they will be OK.
The trouble is you illegalise a plant food which affects a legtimate trade. People then find an alternative, remember glue, lighter fuel, and deodarant inhalation? No one campaigned to ban those, they did however seek to restrict sale of the first two to minors. Perhaps that is what needs to be done, restrict use of shopping sites on the internet and sales goods to minors and make selling to them an imprisonable offence.
King Edward
says...
8:33pm Tue 26 Jan 10
jake the snake wrote:The point is that perfectly legal materials are misused by people and the reaction is to ban them without considering the effect on legitimate users. If you want to protect your kids, monitor their spending, internet usage and where they are and who they are with. How many parents can answer all of those points positively? What are parents and schools doing to educate - educate, not scare or glamorise substance and alcohol abuse?
some of these comments are awful.unless you have teenagers then you donot understand the damage this drug is doing to the teenagers and there families.some people obviously thinks its acceptable for children in schools to be taking this drug as well.uyou are trying to tell me that most of these kids all have issues at home.why is it first reaction is lets blame the parents
TooRad
says...
11:10pm Tue 26 Jan 10
.
Sgt Crocker said:
“We know it causes nose bleeds and turns limbs purple and we know there’s been a death in Durham.
“We know it grows plants very nicely, but we don’t know what it does to the human body"
Seems I read the same articles as the sergeant here, cos funnily enough, I read that story about the purple limbs. It's not as good as the ripped off scrotum jape. Someone went to a dealer, and reported that the bloke they were buying off was claiming days of high dose usage. They did a dose and yer man did more. Then they reported their man had purple knees. Maybe elbows too. And red swollen hands. But thats all it was, a story on the interwebs, no corroboration. They were young uns if they were even anything at all, at an older out of their depth dealer's, they went out and got fkd up and "saw purple knees". That is if they were even real and not just some made up nonsense or an embellishment gone too far.
AND THE POLICE MAKE POLICY DECISIONS AND STATEMENTS BASED ON THAT??!
You have got to be joking. Are they going to spring into action to save all the base from belonging to us? To stop the lolcatz?
.
Along with the "we know it grows plants very nicely" quote (does it? Really? For real? You KNOW that? Like, tested?) it just proves that Crocker is the sergeant's first name and sh1t is his second. As in, what he is saying is a Crocker-Sh1t.
.
So the police force bases it's operations on internet hearsay? If you're a girl and her friend and you only have one cup between you, then you'd better be careful...
.
This is the worst, least fact-based article in the series yet, closely followed by Saturday's "Campaign support gathers pace..." (100 signatures claimed in support but well over 100 disapproving visible comments on the website).
.
You've earnt your drug hysteria badge with flying colours Press. It's inversely proportionate to your credibilty badge, but we understand. Choices.
rentonsewell
says...
2:49am Wed 27 Jan 10
they won't breed then ,,
where are the drug policy makers eh ?
the over paid know alls ,,
cascading their jollies no doubt
Bo Jolly
says...
9:07am Wed 27 Jan 10
-
LMAO - and the media on hand to give ideological back-up in 'the war on internet memes'.
-
Seriously though, more sense has been talked on this issue on this website than usual!
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King Edward says...
10:04am Tue 26 Jan 10