Heroin Cheaper Than A Night Out

Tchort

Tchort

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BBC Essex

6/18/09

After a long day at work many people enjoy a sociable pint in their local.

With a £10 note you could buy two or three pints of beer and still get some change from the barman.

But that £10 could also buy you Class A drugs on some streets of the UK.

In areas of north Essex it is possible to buy a gram of heroin, which, depending on your body's reaction, could be enough for four hits of the drug.

Colchester has been labelled "brown town" by local addicts because of how easy it is to get hold of heroin.

The latest figures from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction show the average street price for heroin is roughly £25-£40 per gram across the continent - four times more than the price you could get it in Colchester.

One heroin addict, Ian, who lives in the town, told BBC Essex that the abundance of the drug had made it difficult to kick his habit.

He said: "When you've been on heroin for 20 years and someone offers you in front of your face you can't say no, you can't stop it, you're so all over the place... it's everywhere."

His girlfriend, Claire, who has been an addict for two and a half years, highlighted the same issue.

She said: "A lot of people know I can get it if I want it, so a lot of people come up to me and ask me to get it, and so it's hard for me to stay off it."

It is thought that the drug is brought to the streets of Colchester by organised gangs from London.

As supply is higher than demand, dealers start with a low price to get people addicted. Once they are hooked the price is raised.

Claudia Rubin, from drugs charity Release, said: "We're all enjoying cheaper strawberries because it's June - they're more available and they're cheaper in June than they are in December. Well for heroin it's always June."

Drugs charities are also feeling the consequences of the low price of the drug.

Katie Santos from Essex charity Open Road said she believed the price of heroin was directly linked to how much it is used.

She said: "If people are using drugs and they can get them cheaper than a pint or cheaper than a meal than they're gonna use them.

"It's a frightening situation in the sense that it can cause so much damage to people very quickly."

Price drop

The reduced price of heroin in Colchester is said to reflect the general trend of the drugs market in the UK.

As the drugs trade has become increasingly commercial and professional over the last 30 years, drugs have become easier and cheaper to import.

As a result, more dealers enter the drugs market so supply outstrips demand and then prices drop to stay competitive.

Ms Rubin said: "The price we're seeing now for a gram of heroin is... probably five or 10 times cheaper than the price of a gram of heroin in 1979.

"All it shows is that the government and the authorities have absolutely no control over something as dangerous and volatile as heroin," she said.

Release said addicts needed an improved rehabilitation system that did not focus on criminalising the user.

If a heroin addict is caught in possession of the drug and given a criminal record it makes it difficult for them to integrate themselves back into society.

They are prevented from applying for certain jobs, making it harder to become self sufficient.

Ms Rubin said: "What we would always advocate was a health approach to dealing with addictions and drug use, and never the criminal approach."

Release also suggested greater government intervention was needed, similar to the approach taken with alcohol and cigarette addiction.

Ms Rubin said: "People are discouraged from drinking alcohol by huge public health campaigns - that's clearly a priority for the government and, of course, taxes, which help control the price.

"You can reduce the harm caused by these highly addictive substances if you take a mature and grown-up public health approach and not purely relying on... throwing people in prison."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/essex/8104959.stm
 
Cheaper if you have no tolerance.


Still, I bet this is a justification a lot of use have made in order to just stay in and use, instead of going out. :\
 
phrozen said:
Still, I bet this is a justification a lot of use have made in order to just stay in and use, instead of going out. :\
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Could say the same for a lot of drugs these days though. I mean some people are even buying MDMA and staying in with mates just hanging out.

But smack is one of the main drugs which people will lead such a lifestyle.
 
This article has some whack info, saying a gram of heroin is good for 1-3 doses?!
If they mean IV even .3grams is a very large dose, is there anyone that doses .3gram at once?

And a gram of H is only 10 pounds, wow!

I'm inclined to think this reporter needed to do more research.

EDIT:NM its just oddly phrased.
<With a £10 note you could buy two or three pints of beer and still get some change from the barman.

But that £10 could also buy you Class A drugs on some streets of the UK.

In areas of north Essex it is possible to buy a gram of heroin, which, depending on your body's reaction, could be enough for four hits of the drug.>

A gram of heroin is more then enough for 4 "hits", I'm worried some kid will read this and shoot 250mg of H or something.
 
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A gram of the tar I get could probably kill 3-4 people. (opiate naive people).

Well depending on how big they are. I _damn sure_ know it can kill 2 people. I've seen someone overdose on .2-.3 of the stuff.
 
Has anyone heard of pre-funking or at least dollar rum and coke night?

Good article though, funny how a good night on illegal drugs cost less than getting drunk (well at least when it comes to smack).
 
phrozen said:
Cheaper if you have no tolerance.


Still, I bet this is a justification a lot of use have made in order to just stay in and use, instead of going out. :\
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That's precisely my philosophy. I can spend $20-30 on OC's or Roxy's and chill at home all night sitting on the computer, surfing the net, working on music, playing games, etc. and have a good time. Or I can go out to a bar or club, stay out until 5am drinking and spend easily twice that. Both entertain me for the night. The only downside of sitting at home is there's no chance of hooking up with a girl, where if I'm going out there's always the possibility.
 
I think this is more a sign of other things being expensive than drugs being cheap.

I cannot vouch for heroin in the UK, but absolutely (some) drugs are cheaper in the US, despite being outrageously overpriced (compare the price of bud to the price of loose tobacco), than paying for an activity socially accepted by everyone . A movie is $10. So is a meal at a restaurant. A meal from a less fancy eating establishment is still like $5. A few hits of high quality cannabis is way cheaper than any of those. Hell, it could supply several people (without a big tolerance) well for the price of 1 "having a night out"!
 
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