A Facebook user on the Isle of Wight has been trying to get his message out regarding the dangers of cut heroin and the newly illegal mephedrone, but it appears our local media don’t want to know about it.
Are we trying to hide the fact this is happening in our community?
We feel we should publish his message. Mephedrone aka Space-E and MCAT seems to be taking over our Island in a big way and has already been linked to death of 17 year old Luke Cowan, sadly taking his own life in 2009 when it was legal to purchase this drug from local shops on the Island.
Since the drug was banned in December by the home office it appears that this drug is now more available than ever, the only difference is that the price has rose from £6 to a massive £20/£25 a gram and now nobody knows what it has been cut with to make things go that little bit further.
From Facebook Member: Marc Mcx
This is a message going out to Isle of Wight youths and the parents who have children taking the mephedrone drug aka Space-E or N-Cap. They need to hear from someone who’s been there and back a hundred times over. If I can save just one child’s life it will be worth doing this.
At this point in my life I don’t think I’ve been so honest or heartfelt in my life, I wouldn’t wish anyone’s children to see the things I have. It’s not nice waking up at 17 and walking out your cell door to see your mates blood coming out from the next cell after slitting his wrists because you took the mick out of his ears the night before, or when your supposed to be paired up with someone because their suicidal but the screws forget and he ends up hanging himself that night while I sit and watch TV. I stopped watching when they dragged his body outside my cell, I could see through the crack while they tried resuscitating him for two hours while they wait for an ambulance to get into the prison. I could hear the screws screams of heartache because she forgot to check on him and another teenage life goes, wasted for no reason.
He only got 7days in prison, If I could, then I would of done those days for him. I’ll never forget that poor lads blue face, he was terrified about being inside, prison does that to some people and that’s exactly where this whole teenage generation is going if it don’t get stopped now. Trust me, I’ve been there and seen it probably more times than most ever will in there whole lifetime. Most space-e and n-cap today contains crystal meph, now would you do that drug on its own?, I doubt it.
So why presume its safe because it’s a few particles short?
Just because you don’t no the dangers of a drug doesn’t mean there aren’t any because there is with everyone you take including that fag you’re smoking as you read this. Please listen to me, I was warned but took little notice and ended up learning the hard way. Don’t make the same mistakes as I did, you don’t want to see what my eyes have seen. It’s not a nice place compared to the real world.
These kind of drugs are dangerous. Proper crystal meph (if clean) will keep you nutted for up to three days and you will do anything for it and I mean anything. When your in that situation you’re just not thinking right at all, especially for the first couple of years. They are the worst years, you learn to live with it after that… well you start learning to live from it. But those first couple of years you will kill, stab, rob and steal whatever it takes to chase that first high that you will never get again anyway, no matter how much you sniff.
I smoked an ounce of crack nearly every day for two months, I even ended up drinking 2 litres of water before every pipe then smoking as much of a fag as I could before finally letting my breath out and sticking my fingers down my throat because I didn’t think I was getting a buzz unless it made me sick. That’s the kind of things those type of drugs do to the brain, I ended up 6 and a half stone of walking death. I’m to ashamed to even look at pics from those days but if you can get permission off the police to use my mug shot from when I got nicked 10 years ago that and this should scare anyone off the drugs.
I’ll even give you another picture of just a couple months before so you can see how quick it can happen. i would be interested to see it myself because getting nicked definitely saved my life but I’m trying to stop you having to get that far. so please don’t waste your life like I have, go out and live it and get off this Island and open your eyes to the world. There is so much more out there than sitting in a room getting wrecked.
Legal Highs: Are they Safe?
Legal highs are substances that mimic the effects of illegal drugs such as ecstasy and speed, but are not currently controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act. In most cases, the chemicals in legal highs have never before been used as drugs, so they haven’t been tested to see whether they are safe – and they don’t have a long history of use, so the short and longer term effects are unknown.
Until recently, legal highs consisted of single plant feeder substances or simple preparations. However, the latest trend is towards poly-substance products, which are being packaged and marketed to a young crowd. Most packets contain no information about side-effects or the risks of mixing these substances with other things like alcohol or medications.
They could potentially cause a range of psychiatric disturbances ranging from anxiety and panic attacks to substance-induced psychosis. This would be particularly frightening if the person did not realise that they had taken a psychoactive substance.
The Isle of Wight Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) is alerting residents and visitors to the risks in dabbling with these substances. Although commonly called ‘legal highs’, these drugs have not been endorsed by the government nor the NHS. Although many vendors claim that many legal highs are herbal or herbal extracts, they are not necessarily safe, with side effects similar to synthetic drugs. There’s no such thing as a safe dose, but the more you take the more likely it is that you’ll suffer the negative effects. It’s especially risky to take these substances at the same time as drinking alcohol. All the fatalities so far have been linked with alcohol consumption and there is a real risk of coma when mixing these chemicals and alcohol.
The DAAT warns that just because some people on internet forums or in the shops may claim to know everything about them it doesn’t make them safe. The key message for anyone considering using these chemicals is, do not drink alcohol.
They also want to warn people that everyone reacts differently to these chemicals and that the make-up of legal highs changes all the time, so you can never be certain what you are taking and what the effects might be. Just because you took the same named substance last week, it doesn’t mean you will get the same effect this week or the ingredients are the same; or that if your mate took it, you will have the same reaction as them.
Another point to remember is that just because the packaging looks good, the name sounds cool or the person you are buying it from seems to be offering you some advice, does not make these chemicals safe, they are toxic. The Isle of Wight DAAT advises that if, despite this warning, you do take these chemicals, keep in mind the following tips to minimise the risks:
- Don’t use them when you’re alone – always have someone with you that isn’t using them
- Give them a sample of what you are taking to hold onto, so if you do lapse into a coma, then they can give this to the ambulance crew so they can find out what you have taken.
- Tell your friends what you are taking
- Don’t drink alcohol or take any other drugs at the same time; if you take these
- Under no circumstances consider taking these if you are, or think you maybe pregnant.
- Don’t take these chemicals if you are depressed, stressed out, upset or angry as they can accentuate your moods – so these chemicals can send you up, but they can also send you down.
- If you are worried or nervous about taking them, then DON’T
You don’t have to take these chemicals to have a good time
Help and Support:
Get Sorted Team (substance misuse service for young people)
01983 617660
Cranstoun Drug Service
01983812755
Island Drug and Alcohol Service (IDAS)
01983 526654
FRANk helpline
0800 77 66 00
frank@talktofrank.com
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Directory of Drug Misuse Services
Further Reading:
‘Drugs made my son take his life’ – Isle of Wight County Press
Teenager dies ‘after experimenting with legal drug meow meow – Mail Online
A 14-year-old girl died after suffering a heart attack at a party. – The Argus
Teenager dies of ‘net drug’ overdose – The Local
Girl, 14, who died at house party may have taken drug sold on internet for £4 a gram – Mail Online
Teen who ‘saw angels’ after taking legal high is found hanged – Metro News
Clubbers are ‘turning to new legal high mephedrone’ – BBC Newsbeat
I thought I was dying… my pupils were huge and my lips bleeding – The Sun
Authors bio is coming up shortly. 
i like space e not as much as space raiders cos there only 10p…beef rules
Thanks for the info on this drug, more info in the url (just click my name)
Prohibition simply doesn’t work nor is it an effective control. Look at the alcohol prohibition era in the US it just drove it underground. At least when alcohol is legal its production is monitored, but bootleg hooch is a dangerous thing causing possible blindness or worse.
The authorities panic and in a knee jerk reaction confuse the whole issue by clamping down on substances that aren’t illegal, yet don’t enforce the laws for things that are illegal.
On top of that as you point out the whole subject is taboo to the island authorities and the media. All are in denial of the problems as they don’t want to portray the island as having the problem so they are in denial, which adds further confusion.
And don’t forget as corruption is rife in this country there are likely to be people at the top with a vested interest.