‘I do enjoy it – that’s the problem.’ ibid.
45% of all shoplifting, burglary and robbery is committed by heroin and crack users. Drugsland s1e3: Dying to Get Clean
Last year there were 2,700 opiate users in treatment in Bristol. 7.5% of them successfully completed treatment in that period. ibid.
‘I’ve give my right or left arm to have this obsession taken away from me.’ ibid. addict
‘I don’t see myself as a drug dealer; I see myself more as just a salesman.’ Drugsland s1e4: The Fix
The drugs that carry the lowest acute risk of harm are magic mushrooms. Yet they are a class A drug like heroin and crack. ibid. caption
‘If people have any substances of concern, they can bring them and we’ll conduct four different tests.’ ibid. Professor Measham
Somehow I’ve got myself involved in an international drugs ring … They told me I’ve got to get a girlfriend just as a cover. The Comic Strip Presents … The Supergrass 1985 starring Adrian Edmondson & Jennifer Saunders & Peter Richardson & Robbie Coltrane & Nigel Planer & Keith Allen & Dawn French & Daniel Peacock & Ronald Allen & Alexei Sayle & Michael Elphick, director Peter Richardson
Since ancient times human beings all over the world have embarked on an astonishing and dangerous quest … a place of fantastic sights and sounds, a realm of sublime and terrifying creatures where the laws of physics are ignored. It is a quest into the hidden mysteries of the human mind, the search for an altered state of consciousness. In Search of History s4e15: Potions or Poisons, History 1998
The drugs as far as I’m concerned they’ve completely ruined the criminal world and in my opinion they’ll probably ruin normal society. Chopper 2000 starring Eric Bana & Vince Colosimo & Simon Lyndon & David Field & Kate Beahan & Dan Wyllie & Fletcher Humphrys & Robert Rabiah & Brian Mannix & Serge Liistro & Skye Wansey & Renne Brack et al, director Andrew Dominik
Gi’ us ma fucking gear! Sweet Sixteen 2002 starring Martin Compston & Annmarie Fulton & William Ruane & Junior Walker & Michelle Abercromby & Michelle Coulter & Tommy McKee & Gary McCormack & Calum McAlees et al, director Ken Loach, Liam
Latin America: the dark heart of the global drugs trade … I’m in Mexico where the drug industry is bigger and more organised and more deadly than anywhere else on the planet. Jason Fox, Meet the Drug Lords: Inside the Real Narcos I, Channel 4 2018
The Sinoloa cartel employs more than 100,000 people and they far outnumber the local police. ibid.
The big money in the drug world isn’t from producing but from smuggling. ibid.
The border with the US: drugs triple in price as soon as they cross it. ibid.
The war on drugs can be shown to be even more of a farce in that the very ones who are bringing the drugs into the country are those in the intelligence service. The Corbett Report, 19 The CIA Ships in the Drugs, James Corbett online 2007
More Americans are dying of overdoses than ever before. And this is the epicentre of that crisis. Welcome to Montgomery County, Ohio, where thanks to a drug so powerful it could kill you if you touch it, police work isn’t what it used to be. One Nation, Overdosed, MSNBC 2017
What’s ravaging this community is made in a laboratory: Fentanyl. ibid.
A couple of years ago traffickers began mixing Fentanyl in with the Heroin. ibid.
Every 11 minutes someone in the US dies of an opioid overdose. Death on the I-95: The Rise of Fentanyl, statistic: Center for Disease Control, BBC 2018
More than 70,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2017. The worst year on record. ibid.
Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50. ibid.
‘It’s not heroin that’s killing our people, it’s Fentanyl.’ ibid. frontline worker
For decades Interstate 95 has been notorious for its role in the illegal drug trade in America. Stretching from Florida to Maine. ibid.
‘It steals their dreams. It steals their lives.’ ibid. mother of addict
The face of Britain’s drug dealers is changing. Kids as young as 8 are now being groomed to traffick drugs up and down the country. These young kids are easy targets. Children being used in drug dealing is far far more common. It’s a dangerous business that’s leading to extreme violence that’s spilling out on to our streets. 8 Years Old & Smuggling Drugs, Channel 5 2018
In 2015 an estimated 181 urban gangs sent more than 800 young people to market towns and coastal areas to deal drugs. ibid.
One of the most astonishing drug mysteries I’ve ever encountered: this is the story of the South African Quaalude. Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia s1e1: The Story of the South African Quaalude, Vice 2012
A difficult drug to research because it’s all but disappeared, with one notable exception: South Africa. ibid.
Orally, the user experiences muscle relaxation and a sense of calm disinhibition. But when the drug is smoked its rapid onset and increased potency produce a rushing euphoria, and in high doses a total loss of consciousness. ibid.
1970s: It was a relaxing drug, a love drug that promoted dance and uninhibited sexuality. ibid.
Rapid onset and short duration … ibid.
Mandrax is always sold in tablet form despite the fact that it’s far from ideal for smoking. ibid.
One of the most widely used synthetic drugs in Africa. ibid.
Its birth serendipitous. Its life shrouded in mystery. Understood by few. Feared by many. I’ve been fascinated by psychoactive drugs my whole life. Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia s1e2: A Positive PCP Experience
It soon found a home with non-medical users on the street. And those people used the drug to explore strange realms of the mind that are otherwise inaccessible. ibid.
‘PCP induces a unique altered state.’ ibid. pharmacologist
50 years of PCP scare stories and other negative reporting. (Drugs & PCP) ibid.
It’s appeared on the street in many forms: first, there were capsules and tablets, often called peace pills, later there is crystal and PCP hydrochloride, referred to as angel dust, and most recently liquid solutions. ibid.
The synthesis of PCP can be a formidable challenge for clandestine chemists. ibid.
Unpredictable behaviour however is the norm. ibid.
Its origins are obscure. Its natural distribution controversial … Its new to our culture but familiar to the shamans who’ve cultivated the plant for generations. This is the story of salvia divinorum. Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia s1e3: Shepherdess
The effects of smoking salvia extracts are dramatic. ibid.
Mushrooms exist to release spors into the environment. But why some produce psilocybin has yet to be explained. Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia s1e4: Magic Mushrooms in Mexico
The spores germinate once they find a suitable substrate. ibid.
A ray of compounds that alter consciousness … This is the story of the dream fish. Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia s1e5: Fish n Trips
I’m off the coast of Miami Florida … the sponge … host to a fascinating compound … the only known psychedelic to have been isolated from the ocean and only the ocean. ibid.
Reported cases around the world of fish causing vivid hallucinations. ibid.
Puffer fish: its internal organs contain one of the most potent neurotoxins ever discovered: it is the TTX in the puffer fish which induces a total body flaccid paralysis, almost indistinguishable from death. Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia: Investigating the Haitian Zombie
This is the story of … Bufo Alvarius the psychedelic toad … 5 MeO-DMT. Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia s2e1: Bufo the Psychedelic Toad
This is the story of Lophophora Williamsii … 50 Alkaloids: the most abundant of which, Mescalin, became the first psychedelic to undergo scientific study … Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia s2e2: Peyote the Divine Messenger