On 10 Jun 2011 at 8:59pm jonnyboy wrote:
JR,the old chestnut that soft drugs lead to hard drugs is as fatuous as saying drinking cider leads to drinking meths. Most soft drug users do not go on to take heroin though I'm sure most heroin users will have used cannabis at some point.
Most heroin deaths are due to either the drug being unusually pure or from what it's been "cut" with. Quinine is often used which can lead to pulmonary edema.
Criminalising addicts hasn't worked. In Switzerland free prescription heroin ( not methadone which even more addictive) is given to users and they have a safe , clean place in which to take it. Google it, it seems a lot more civilised to me and was voted for by the Swiss people.
Tim, who jumped off the bridge had lots of problems. He was depresssed and had had an accident ( he fell out of a moving van). He was seriously injured.
While I think it's acceptable to name those who have died from their addictions on this forum, it's wrong to name current residents of Lewes who may or may not have a drug problem. I hope Webbo removes those posts.
On 10 Jun 2011 at 9:32pm Naive? wrote:
I am staggered by the information on this thread. What is the estimated % of the population that has taken drugs?
Thankfully I have never been tempted with drugs and have got my highs from participating in a variety of outdoor sports and recreational activities.
Would one person on this thread explain what lead them to take drugs in the first place?
On 10 Jun 2011 at 10:11pm Anonymous coward wrote:
I tried cigarettes, alcohol and various drugs at 14 purely (i think) because I wasn't supposed to. So it seemed exciting, rebellious and fun.
Drug usage just faded out with time. I tried many methods to kicks cigarettes. Hypnosis eventually succeeded at the age of 45. Alcohol usage can sometimes still feel like a problem, especially in the morning.
Drugs were definitely the most fun...
On 10 Jun 2011 at 10:22pm giveitarest wrote:
Naive - I remember saying to someone a while ago that I reckoned at least 70% of my year at school, aged 16, had smoked dope. That was thirty years ago at an average school in a quiet Home Counties town, but I doubt much has changed.
You do drugs 'in the first place' for the same reason you go and see a film or eat a curry for the first time or whatever. Just because you're curious, and because you can.
On 10 Jun 2011 at 11:35pm Lambo wrote:
Jonnyboy - he was pushed out of the van. I suspect he was pushed off the bridge.
On 11 Jun 2011 at 8:18am Chav wrote:
I bin taking drugs all me life. Dun me no harm
On 11 Jun 2011 at 8:56am toni wrote:
Tim was not murdered Lambo. He was a very depressed man who ended it in a tragic way. Your comments are wrong and hurtful to those of us who still miss him.
On 11 Jun 2011 at 9:33am Toque wrote:
I've consumed vast quantities of pot, acid, magic mushrooms and ecstasy, and also my drug of first choice, the 'gateway drug', real ale.
And the only drug I've ever had a bad time on is alcohol, I can honestly say that I've never had a bad experience on any other, though obviously I know plenty of people who have.
On 11 Jun 2011 at 10:16am Lambo wrote:
Toni - I knew Tim and his death shocked and upset me. I apologise if I said something hurtful.
On 11 Jun 2011 at 10:20am tod wrote:
we all know who the mr bigs are in town and so do old bill , but nothing happens so guess we just have to live with all the extra crime and crap that goes with it , ive seen a young man drop dead in a rave tent ,pills ? who knows ,
On 11 Jun 2011 at 2:21pm bastian wrote:
Lambo,like you I have found this thread has unwound some old uneasiness that I thought had gone away in this town.We all know who the dealers are here now but as tod says they seem to be tolerated,what worries me is whether they would be tolerated if things take a turn for the worse as they did in the 1990s.
On 11 Jun 2011 at 2:40pm A worried person wrote:
It has always puzzled me that being the County Town of Sussex,and having the Police Headquarters here,why it is not the most crime free,law abiding town on the south coast! The opportunity for it to be so, is here on our doorstep!Why,if these people are known by locals and police as has been said,are these individuals not being dealt with?
On 11 Jun 2011 at 4:53pm Ed Can Do wrote:
I imagine the police line would be that it isn't an effective use of resources. If you arrest a street dealer, even assuming you pick up enough evidence for a conviction, there are that many dealers in town the business will just switch elsewhere, or someone new will take over. For the police it makes more sense (One imagines) to go after the higher level dealers and cut off the supply as replacing that link in the chain takes a while longer. I know of at least one higher level dealer who was sent to jail recently, cutting the supply to most of Lewes's small-time coke pushers temporarily at least (Although the guy was done for money laundering rather than dealing, at least he's off the streets). Certainly recent police efforts to target weed factories have made it a lot harder to get hold of that in town these days and pushed the price right up.
Also, compared to a lot of places, Lewes is virtually crime free. Sure there are quite a few dealers in town and a lot of people taking drugs but there's no violent turf wars going on and burglary rates are a lot lower than they once were.
On 11 Jun 2011 at 7:04pm bastian wrote:
not on the scale of london but it has been known on a small scale
On 11 Jun 2011 at 7:23pm Clifford wrote:
'A worried person'. I think you may have answered your own question. In the old days the porn industry in Soho operated with the 'co-operation' of the local vice squad. Drug dealers pay to stay in business.