Funeral service held for Lois Waters (From York Press)
Get in touch: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting YORK to 80360 or send an email»
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.
Funeral service held for Lois Waters
9:11am Thursday 1st April 2010 in
-
- By Jennifer Bell » jennifer.bell@thepress.co.uk
THE tragedy of a young North Yorkshire woman who lost her life days after taking the danger drug mephedrone has left “a black cloud” hanging over the town where she lived.
The priest who led yesterday’s funeral service for Lois Waters, 24, spoke of how her death had created “an air of shock and sadness”.
Lois was found dead by a friend in Norton, near Malton, last week. Police say that in the 48 hours before she died, she had taken the “legal high” mephedrone, which is to be banned by the Government.
Toxicology tests are expected to reveal whether mephedrone was responsible for the tragedy, but the results will not be known for up to three weeks.
Yesterday, about 250 people gathered at St Peter’s Church in Norton to say farewell to Lois.
The Rev Bill Ankers paid tribute to her, saying after the service: “It was like a black cloud was hanging over the church. A funeral should normally be the celebrating of a long life, but Lois’s was cut tragically short. There was an air of shock and sadness about the service and the sudden loss of a young life. We talked about her experiences when she was a baby and a child and her young adult life. But tragically she never got to experience any further than that.”
Former Norton College student Lois – who had been described by her family as a “quiet, caring girl with a great sense of humour,” and as being “adored and popular” by those who knew her – was found in the early hours of last Monday by her friend, Sarah Ford.
• Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of 19-year-old Scunthorpe chef Nicholas Smith, who died after taking mephedrone on a night out.
Nicholas, from Winterton, Lincolnshire, and his friend, Louis Wainwright, 18, died on March 15 after a night out in the town. A funeral service for Louis is due to take place on Thursday.
Comments(4)
LittleTed
says...
10:03am Thu 1 Apr 10
redr wrote:Excellent and well written post.
First of all I would like to send my deepest sympathy to the families and friends of Lois, Nicholas and Louis. To lose anyone so young is always a tragedy so I offer my heartfelt condolences.
My second point is that I think the presses’ reporting of these tragic events is an absolute disgrace. Their editorial obsession with mephedrone and self congratulatory smugness is both astonishing and offensive.
If I were a member of family of any of these three young people I would be outraged at the way their deaths had been used to promote your worthless narrow minded campaign. This drug will still be on sale in York, but now thanks partly to your campaign it will be on sale by the same people who sell much harder and more dangerous concoctions.
The young people of York deserve better from their local newspaper. They deserve facts not gossip, they deserve an educated editorial not scaremongery and they deserve respect from organisations such as the press.
What an absolute disgrace this entire campaign has been.
R.I.P. Lois, Nicholas and Louis. I hope other youngsters receive better advice and information from more reliable sources.
hifive
says...
10:26am Thu 1 Apr 10
Silver
says...
11:51am Thu 1 Apr 10
Rest in place Lois Waters, may your family never forget you and hopefully overcome the pain of your loss.
More The Menace of Mephedrone stories
- New warning over mephedrone
- Mephedrone likely to have been a factor in death of Malton woman Lois Waters, inquest told
- Mephedrone: The aftermath
- Number of mephedrone dealers ‘will fall by half’
- School head ‘delighted’ by mephedrone campaign
- Was The Press right to call for a ban on mephedrone?
- Eight held in purge on mephedrone
- Police seize Mephedrone worth £30k
- Police urge anyone in possession of mephedrone to dispose of it before ban
- MP's mephedrone modification fears
Lois Waters
Most popular
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
redr says...
9:37am Thu 1 Apr 10
My second point is that I think the presses’ reporting of these tragic events is an absolute disgrace. Their editorial obsession with mephedrone and self congratulatory smugness is both astonishing and offensive.
If I were a member of family of any of these three young people I would be outraged at the way their deaths had been used to promote your worthless narrow minded campaign. This drug will still be on sale in York, but now thanks partly to your campaign it will be on sale by the same people who sell much harder and more dangerous concoctions.
The young people of York deserve better from their local newspaper. They deserve facts not gossip, they deserve an educated editorial not scaremongery and they deserve respect from organisations such as the press.
What an absolute disgrace this entire campaign has been.
R.I.P. Lois, Nicholas and Louis. I hope other youngsters receive better advice and information from more reliable sources.