 A wrap of cocaine |
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Drugland: Ibiza
Regardless of the differing representation of drug use in London and Manchester, I think this program was very important. Drugland splits up the old perceptions of drug use and shows us that there are in fact divisions between recreational and addictive substances. I think Drugland also dispelled some of the sensationalist nonsense that appears in the tabloid press regarding drug use. One really bad example misinformation in the tabloids I feel, is the notion that when you pop an ecstasy pill you've got a 50 per cent chance of having a good time or a 50 per cent chance of dying. I think Drugland is a milestone in the reformation of society's thinking about currently illegal substances and those who consume them.
Chris, North West, UK
I was very impressed with the way the BBC covered this difficult subject. For years the message has been no, no, no and not educated anyone. Until the government adopt this idea then the problem will just get worse. The drug issue will never just go away i think the government will just have to 'work' with it.
The programme on Ibiza was spot on, having been to the island for several years I have seen the huge change in terms of availability. Last summer we visited the most of the clubs and could have scored nearly every five minutes which is not quite right. Well done the BBC, I hope you sent a copy to Mr Blair.
Marc, Sheffield
I have a friend who has lived on the island since 1993. My friend has always told me that the universities and colleges in Ibiza are almost empty. The reason being, easy; at 15 or 16 years old you can earn about 1,800� a month in a night club - half as a barman half as a delivery boy. That's a great salary in Spain, especially when they all live with their parents and nobody pays bills. Not only is it ruining the old identity of the island, but also the future from all these lads who in 20 years time will not have anything to seek for, only the social security office.
Jose Garcia, Aldershot
 |  What an excellent trio of programmes.  |
Very interesting trio of programmes but why was London and Ibiza portrayed as glamorous with cannabis and cocaine, whilst Manchester was portrayed as crack and heroin central?
It's fair enough talking about each of the drugs but why not have said that all of these drugs can be found throughout the country and are not just typical of one area?
Stevie J, London, UK
What an excellent trio of programmes. Yes I am sure that each one had it's imperfections, but I think these are long overdue, and on the whole very well executed. Although, I think the undercover reporter was lucky in Ibiza. They really should be shown again. I have been a low usage (six times a year) ecstasy user since 1990. I don't really have an addictive personality, but so many people do making drugs so dangerous in some cases. It was good for parents to see what Ibiza is really all about. It has in the past annoyed me that BBC Radio One made so many references to recreational drug use with Sarah Cox and Dave Pearce ( Roll another Fat one, Go large etc.) and didn't seem to realise that it was glamorising and normalising the drug culture in the UK.
Rob, Brighton
Good work folks. Unfortunately, local authorities and media are ridiculing the programme because they did find one or two errors (e.g., they claim some arrests have been made in the last year or so). Not taking the bottom line seriously. Their only concern is to avoid the image of the island as a tourist destination being hurt. They already know the truth, but they don't want it known.
Michael K. Smith, Ibiza
Oooh, that was a great programme. Now I know which bar to go to, which people to approach and which club to go to in order to get good quality drugs in Ibiza. I also know what the local cops look like and what part of the main town has cameras in it, so I can neatly avoid them. Thanks BBC, you were very helpful! Gotta go - better beat the rush and book my drug-fuelled holiday soon.
Shelly, Cambridge
Having been a holiday maker to Ibiza for the past seven years and never having been a drug user I was appalled by the negative picture you portrayed. I have been to other holiday destinations (Magaluf, Aya Napa and Playa Las Americas) where drugs are being openly offered to people on every corner, and found not only problems with drugs, but in Aya Napa particularly gun and gang problems. Drugs are used in almost every city in the world and are available to anyone who wants them. To highlight this as a problem in Ibiza is grossly unfair.
John Parkin, Newcastle Upon Tyne
We found all three of your programmes in this series very addictive. We sat and watched them and were quiet throughout the programmes except for the odd 'oh my god, can you believe that' comment. If your teams managed to get this close to these people how come the police can't? Not that I'm bothered about them as I'm partial to the odd substance now and again myself. I was shocked, amused and gob smacked by some of the details in the programmes, especially the Columbian who receives his stash in the post and the Ibiza police. I didn't see one dog in their force. I lived in Australia for a while and they use dogs all the time. Its no wonder Ibiza hasn't caught any maritime smugglers for two years, it looked like they didn't really want to. When you stated that they all sod off for a holiday at the height of summer we all burst out laughing.
Scott Paterson, Amsterdam
While the London and Manchester episodes were fairly balanced, I thought that the Ibiza episode was back to the old style of drug reporting. Clubbers were portrayed as lambs to the slaughter, dealers as sinister gangsters, and the police as the good guys facing overwhelming odds. It was as if the director had failed to realise that many if not most of its viewers would be familiar with drug culture as casual users. What myself and many others are aware of however, is that it is our right and our responsibility to take informed risks, that the dealers are usually our friends, and that the police are accomplishing nothing but ruining peoples' holidays, and in some cases, their lives. I believe that legalisation and public education is the best way forward.
Kirk Jackson, Nottingham
The series was excellent. Britain has a drug problem, a severe problem which we all knew anyway but it always useful to have the facts confirmed. I would like to see another series but this time following the users and not the dealers. By following the users of drugs such as Coke and Ecstasy, young people and parents will see the advantages and disadvantages, the euphoria and come down of taking drugs.
Maz, London
Not a bad go at the issue but human beings will to some degree take mood-altering substances rich or poor. For some it is a glass of wine, others a crack pipe. Use of coke, crack and heroin will only stop if supply dries up.
Nigel, Basingstoke, Hants.
| Why is it a bit of a joke when someone collapses in a heap after a night of drinking but deadly serious when they do the same after a night of drugs? |
Wish you could air more programmes like these to schools and colleges as young people do not watch these programmes at this time of night. Did not think that the Spanish police did enough to combat the problems occurring in Ibiza, whereas the British counterparts combated the drug problems more quickly and seriously. I think there should be more advertising on television to promote the awareness of the drugs culture's wide spread.
K A Webb, London Imagine if alcohol was illegal and we had to buy homemade booze in dirty milk bottles off street dealers. How many people would die or fall ill then? Why is it all a bit of a joke when someone collapses in a heap after a night of drinking, but deadly serious when someone does the same after a night of drugs?
I think branding of alcohol plays a big part in softening its image. Imagine if drugs were legal and came in nice pretty packets with corporate logos on the front and were accompanied by nationwide advertising campaigns. "Two grams of X-brand vodka and a packet of pork scratchings please, barman."
It just seems to me that the whole scene would be a whole lot safer if the government regulated it. Then you wouldn't have people collapsing after taking drugs of unknown purity and content.
Ellers, Leicester
A very good insight on all three programmes about the effects that drugs are having on society as a whole, not just here in the UK but abroad as well and how easy it is to get them these days...
I'm now 33 and, yes, I have done the drug scene which I'm not proud of but luckily for me it was just recreational and I never really got hooked that badly. But I do agree it effects your whole personality and makes you become paranoid. I am now 16 years on and still get cravings but I fight it as I know it will eventually kill, which is more frightening than popping that pill to have a good time.
Nad, Manchester UK
Drugland Ibiza was a one-hour programme that could have been delivered in five minutes and it still delivered nothing new. Lots of Brits take ecstasy in Ibiza and there are people called dealers who sell it. And they are controlled by more shy, secretive and powerful people that the programme nearly got close to getting close to.
And drugs are dangerous. And the undercover investigators got rumbled. Well, fancy that! I'm sure they looked and sounded nothing like Cambridge-educated journalists trying to be street. Whatever the programme cost to make, it was wasted.
Moloney, Manchester
Excellent, informative programme. Keep up the good work - people need to know what's happening out there.
Claire, Herts
| I hope it has opened the eyes of people to what is actually going on in our streets. |
A very high quality trio of programmes showing the real side of drugs in the UK, refraining from preaching, untruths or scare tactics that have been so rife in previous programmes on the same subject. I hope the BBC can follow this series up with more along the same lines.
Programming of this quality can only enlighten the public from their current, mis-held ideas and interpretations of the problem, which is greatly underestimated, and lend support to more progressive solutions.
Two thumbs up.
MC, London, UK
To all the people who have glamorised drug taking - just one hour in my family's shoes would make you think again. It affects everyone around you. I am also a professional and now a respected member of my community, but that didn't stop me before. To all those people who regard themselves as intelligent - put your brains into gear.
Recovering addict, Sheffield
Well done, BBC. Hard-hitting, realistic portrayal of UK's drug problem. My father watched all three programmes and it opened his eyes to the truth about the culture his children have, and are, growing up in and around.
Krystle, 21, High Wycombe, UK
This was a better insight than what has been shown before. But if you really want to go "undercover" it needs someone with dealing experience to do it. The guys in Ibiza stood out far too easily, and should not have got as far as they did. They were lucky not to get hurt. I hope it has opened the eyes of people as to what is actually going on in our streets. Drugs will NEVER go away. Proper education IS the way forward.
Sadeghan, Birmingham, UK
Great programme showing - sadly - how trashed Ibiza has become! I don't think the English are responsible for the drug taking, though. If you think that, you have probably never been to Madrid. Saying that, I think drugs are a much wider issue than a couple of kids dancing to House music!
Nove, London, UK
Where there is a lot of money there will always be drugs. Control is more important. Where does the money go? Access to bank accounts for the police would help, I think.
John Hagan, Alfas del Pi, Spain
I think you BBC guys did a good job; you pretty much told it as it is, albeit from a tourist's perspective. Good work.
I worked in Ibiza for the full season (five months). It was quite funny seeing some of the people I knew talking to you, blissfully unaware. I even knew most of the Policia on the film.
Everyone knows without the lure of drugs Ibiza wouldn't get the numbers it does, and with loss of numbers means loss of economy etc.
I still fail to see the point of this part of the series though - everyone already knew about Ibiza.
:), England
Drugland: Manchester
While I found the first two shows interesting, the message it seems to give is that most drug use in London is "recreational" and middle-class while Manchester is full of poor smack and crack heads.
The gist of the London show was that coke, weed and E are taken by educated, wealthy people supplied by friendly dealers. The message in the Manchester show is that everyone is poor and bored so they take smack and crack and steal to feed their habits.
Being from Manchester but living in London I think that is unfair and misrepresentative. While the show says it looks at different drugs in different episodes, the reality is that it is split into three geographical parts. It seems the Manchester one is dirty, poverty ridden junkies. London, coke-fuelled socialites. And Ibiza?
Well, we will see. I know what to expect. It would be helpful if the BBC could avoid reinforcing the stereotypes most Londoners hold about Mancunians in future.
Dan Fineren, London
In the recent documentary (Drugland BBC Two) on drugs in the "Dickybird" estate, I was disgusted at the way this was portrayed as I know most of the people on that estate and they are no where near as bad as you made them out to be - especially the drug dealers. I think it is disgraceful that they only showed one side to the story. I think that the BBC should do a follow up and show the other side of the story.
Wayne Arnold, Bury
| I would like to know why there was so little about the ordinary people who live in the area. |
Dear BBC, I thought that this was an excellent programme, portraying what life is like in the drugs field/ industry. As I am someone who works with drugs users in Fife, I feel that this was a hard hitting programme and would hope that when young people and adults watched it, it may make then think twice. Well done BBC.
Paul McFadden, Fife
Brilliant programme - superb. And the crack dealing is the same in London, gives the viewer a wider view of the situation of what is going on around us. Superb show please can it be repeated.
Lorraine Sweet, Wimbledon
Very impressive and I believe realistic coverage of the state of the drug scene across the UK today. It wasn't too nice to watch but what I appreciate in reports like this is that no matter how unappealing the subject is you have to be able to face it and let the public know about it because drugs are not just a problem of individuals but the problem of the society.
Aka Pussi, Helsinki, Finland
I am deeply unsatisfied in the way the area known as Dickybird was portrayed. All drug dealers were made out to be bad people. I also believe that this documentary gave a bad image of all that live and reside there. I would like to know why there was so little about the ordinary people who live in the area and how they deal with the increasing drug trade.
Danny Jones, Bury
| Very informative, and an extremely realistic approach to drug use, well done. |
I watched the Manchester programme last night and I was scared to believe the acceptance of hard drugs into the drug scene. As a recreational user for several years I used to disown "friends" who tried crack; and brown/heroin wasn't even uttered. Now it appears that anything goes. Doesn't the youth of today realise the dangers? Or are they escaping from the reality
Andy, Reading
Very informative, and an extremely realistic approach to drug use, well done. But perhaps too informative in some aspects, why show in graphic detail how to wash coke up into rocks? I can just see everyone who always wondered how but didn't know how attempting their own chemistry test and 'washing their coke up' regardless of the dangers. I thought that part was extremely irresponsible behaviour by the BBC, however the entire content of the programme was very well delivered.
Shelley, Bedfordshire
Excellent. I liked the way the party drugs were covered in the first programme and then the harder more addictive ones in the second. You don't usually get that distinction in the popular press. It seems to me that the people who take cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy don't generally develop an addiction, whilst those that do crack and heroin generally do. I suppose its a question of control and what has it, you or the drug? Your life's never going to be ruled by ecstasy.
The government really needs to look at the bigger picture and concentrate all its resources on wiping out heroin and crack, and helping, rather than locking up, the people who do them. These people are punishing themselves everyday, and then they get thrown in jail for it. It's madness.
Michael , Aylesbury
I'm not sure that some of the comments i have read are very sensible. Drugs ruin lives. Sure a bit here and there is cool, but it gets a grip of thousands in the wrong way, and the only way to sort this out is too stop importation, not busting street dealers and addicts. There is an epidemic and its getting worse. I have seen the destruction first hand, so many friends lose their minds, end up in prison, rehab, die etc. For all you who think it's a joke, you're obviously part timers. I thought it was fun when i was younger going out 24/7, then I woke up and saw what we all threw away...and that is life my friends.
Jo, Essex
I felt that the London programme showed too much of a glamorous image of dealers and respectable looking users. Was glad to see the more seedy side of the drug scene in the Manchester programme.
Ian Fleming, Scotland
I feel that even though this programme portrayed a true reflection of the drug culture, it also put out a false misconception that taking drugs was ok and that drug dealing can make you a lot of money. Well it won't, a lot of the youth culture would get to see this programme even though it was on at 9pm, and to be quite frank it could put ideas into their heads. As one of the lads said he watched New Jack City, the person who was taking the stuff and also selling it was getting nowhere in life as all he was doing was selling to feed his own habit. I had a problem with crack cocaine for seven years and it almost ruined my life as well as my relationship, but I managed to stay strong and beat the addiction and now hold down a full time job because that is what it is - an addiction. Don't get me wrong, for those who are strong minded or weak minded then let this programme be a lesson to you that drug dealing and drug taking is a nasty affair. You have to work for your money like everybody else because in the end it will only bring misery.
Wayne, Warrington
| It's about time that the public as a whole were involved with an informed, balanced discussion about drugs |
In my opinion the BBC Drugland programmes has managed to portray the drug scene in a reasonably objective way, unmatched so far by other TV broadcasts. This is how it is up and down the country. But when will the government sit up and take notice? For example if heroin were prescribed, surely crime would fall in an unprecedented way. Most small time dealers would go out of business as they would not need to finance their habits, and the average heroin user may be much more inclined to smoke, not inject (many fall into the trap of injecting believing the drug will go further).They could then be free to lead perfectly socially responsible, productive lives. After all in order to maintain a heroin habit, addicts are often extremely resourceful, persistent people, these qualities could assist our country not hinder it.
Heather, Brighton
I think it is an admirable series of documentaries you have broadcast the last two evenings, particularly this evenings programme. It's about time that the public as a whole were involved with an informed, balanced discussion about drugs - chiefly, the menace of heroin. The hard working lady of the Drug Counselling Service, and the Police Drugs Liaison officer on the programme are just the sort of people that Mr Blair should be consulting with to make a coherent national policy that actually works. For too long we, as a society, have turned our backs on these people and repeatedly imprisoned them. It has had no effect. More funds are needed at the front line to allow more treatment of the causes of this mass misuse, such as the Plymouth example - who have reduced drug crime by a large percentage by that very method.
I feel that even bolder steps should and could be taken. For instance, there is a massive shortage of professional trades people in the country. As part of a compulsory treatment programme, addicts could be sent - enforced - to technical colleges to train as plumbers, etc. This would be a productive qualification that could be backed up by incentives to complete the course, such as long term, low interest loans to set up businesses, such as we give to students. Obviously, safeguards would have to be in place to protect that investment, such as random drug testing, re-qualification and repossession if there is non-compliance. I believe that, given the opportunity, and the chance to achieve, many of these people would stop being the burden that they are on society and become contributing members of it.
Andrew, Rotherham
Why are the BBC only doing programmes in London, Manchester and Ibiza? Scotland's drug problem is far greater due to deprivation and a government that doesn't give a damn. I personally don't think the BBC are attempting to glamorise drug usage, I think they are outlining to the British public what actually goes on in the streets. Well done BBC for having the balls to produce this definite award winning series.
Martyn, Leitrim
| the programme was a fine example of poor journalism. |
I was extremely shocked and appalled that in today's society of supposed equal opportunity and racial tolerance that the BBC could air a programme that was so blatantly racist.
Throughout the whole programme there was an underlying message that the drug problem being experienced in Bury was due to Jamaicans and the man that had been shot was the main culprit. The journalist felt the need to state at every opportunity that a particular person was Jamaican or of Jamaican descent. I could not see the point or the relevance for this, unless she was trying her hardest to sensationalise her story and perpetuate a myth that the media and society has bought into, that all drug dealer are Jamaican.
I think the programme was a fine example of poor journalism, where no time was taken to investigate the subject thoroughly, honestly and objectively. If this had been done, the reporter would have acknowledged that drugs dealing is indicative to society and is dealt by all nationalities. Those users interviewed in her programme acknowledge this when they stated that black, whites, and Chinese deal.
I was able to hear and understand these statement, but not everyone who watched the programme will. Those that did not hear these statement will believe exactly what the journalist was perpetuating, that is Jamaicans deal drugs. As a black person of Jamaican descent, who is proud of her heritage. We get enough negativity heaped on us, without journalist and the BBC initiating programmes like this.
Carol Jones, London
Once again the BBC have in one hour, instructed thousands of viewers how to use and construct equipment necessary for the taking of drugs. We all know there is a major drug problem in the UK, why do the BBC have to show this kind of program with so much detail? The drug suppliers must be great fans of this TV channel, it certainly has made their lives easier. To say I am angry is an understatement. This programme was and is totally irresponsible, achieving nothing at all to rid us of this evil culture. All it was in my view was an instruction book on how to take drugs.
Joe Bicknell, Reading
Fantastic 'reality' show. It shows us, for the first time, the real lives of a growing percentage of the population. Although it highlights city suburbs and council estates - viewers can be sure that a similar life is unfolding near them, town or village. Being a recovering heroin addict myself, now two years clean and sober, I am disappointed to see or hear nothing of the possibility of recovery in places such as Narcotics Anonymous, Though I understand the predicament.
Ben Hodgson, Brighton
As a mother of a son who is a recovering heroin addict I would like to say that I think this programme should have focused more on drug related deaths, especially from heroin. You didn't even mention the horrors of withdrawal and the degradation that some heroin users can spiral into. They steal from their own mothers in desperation. Their health can deteriorate so that withdrawals can kill but this is not publicised for some reason. I have watched my son practically suffocate on his vomit in front of me. I have read of deaths in custody related to heroin withdrawal.
I know mothers who have lost their children through heroin use. This also was an opportunity to highlight the fact that the system is failing people who want to stop taking drugs because the help is not readily available. I think you should do an undercover story following a heroin addict trying to get help and treatment for his addiction. That would make shocking viewing. They end up in the Criminal Justice system because they can't get help and shoplift to fund their habit. Some services have even told their clients to commit a crime to fast track into treatment.
Mother, East, Kent
| A balanced portrayal of English drug culture and is a clear indictment that the drugs policies spawned by the government are woefully ineffective. |
As the policeman said: "the drug they do it for is money" Supply-Demand-price the only three things that apply to any market. Why don't we legalise heroin, prescribe it to users in such quantities they do not need another source and destroy the market.
If users wish to spend their lives in a stupor that's their choice but at least they wont be burgling your house or mugging your mum to do it. Prohibition itself is the root of the problem, people will take drugs whatever the risk and gangsters get rich off the back of it.
Apply this legal status to cannabis and ecstasy as well and tax it. Use the revenue to finance social projects especially for kids. The sooner our governments accept this reality and stop the futile "war on drugs" the sooner we will have some progress. Until then its same s**t different day
Robert Hunt, King's Lynn
I have to say that I thought the programme was very straight to the point but was definitely an eye-opener. I am a 17 year old girl with a Dad of 38 who has been a heroin addict for 12 years. I did find it disgusting how Jonny could do that to himself but living in an area in Manchester with that sort of "culture" as it were, it is very clear that it's easy to get yourself into dealing and using drugs. I have grown up with being around someone who is a user and even though people can be quick to turn round and say that why don't you just get yourself off of drugs, it is only possible unless the user wants to do it for themselves. I am not trying to make any excuses for my dad at all and I would be pleased if my dad did get off heroin, but all I can say is that people shouldn't be so narrow-minded and realise that drug users only think of the drug and nothing else. My heart goes out to all those many thousands of people who suffer from a family member, partner, friend who has to go through the frustration of not knowing what is best for the user. My best advice I can give to you all is don't hold your breath - They will only decide to quit it when they reach rock bottom. You're not alone.
Natalie, Torquay
Bloody brilliant to see such frank portrayal of drug scenes. Second programme better than the first. Amazing insight, some familiar some far from it. Surely a useful harm reduction source?
What a lot of desperate people. Demonstrates to me something about keeping a certain group down. A subliminal control. No ones fault particularly just an interesting phenomenon. Could not stop watching this.
AJ, Bucks
I watched Drugland with interest, especially seeing as it was in my neck of the woods tonight.
I think it is a balanced portrayal of English drug culture and is a clear indictment that the drugs policies spawned by the government are woefully ineffective. We need an open and honest forum in the UK regarding various drugs and their use. The generic drugs policy doesn't go anywhere near combating the problems we now see, nor does the poor government propaganda we get forced down our necks.
I'm a cannabis smoker and I use it to suppress chronic back pain. It gives me the ability to live an almost normal existence. I pay my taxes, my NI and my way in life and also work hard in a professional environment.
When oh when will the government wake up and realise this is not a war they can win. As long as there is poverty and boredom people will continue to indulge.
Ian, Lancashire
At last, a piece on drugs that is both informative and moving without relying on sensationalist tactics. I work a high school in Lancashire. I wish my pupils could have seen this rather than the banal, pallid talks that they receive from middle class community nurses. Well worth the effort. thanks to all involved.
D, Lancs
| So far I've watched two of your Drugland programs. It hits hard. |
A poor and unbalanced representation of the drugs issue offering very little constructive material to any notion of an informed debate. Very disappointing.
P Thomas, Merseyside
So far I've watched two of your Drugland programs. It hits hard. I'm just so glad that I got off drugs. Even though I wasn't a hard drug user, I would of been if it wasn't for factual programmes like yours. I only hope that other people like see the light.
Chris Lever, Bolton
Lets face it, drugs ruin lots of lives. It has real consequences. Parents, relatives and friends can all be lost. I know going on about the health issues are irrelevant and its much cheaper to take drugs than spend �100 getting into a drunken brawl. I understand drugs wont go away and nor will the human desire to get mashed on whatever, but I hope my kids avoid drugs. Especially youngsters - It can really effect their education and prospects. It's okay for yuppie cokeheads to glamorise it but for young teenagers jacking up in someone's garage getting shagged by her 45 year old neighbour is not attractive or acceptable. There are many types and levels of drug taking, in my view the only way of helping our fellow humans realise that there is more to life is to legalise the lot and let society hopefully prevail.
Paul Evans, Birmingham
This was a ground-breaking programme, in that for the first time we were allowed to see overtly shot footage of small-time narcotics dealers at work. But this really was the lowest end of the market: the guys who drive around selling a few wraps of coke here and there are the Middle Classes' equivalent of the sink estate street dealer scratching a living on a "frontline" - they are the lowest end retailers before physical consumption. I would be very keen for the BBC to investigate and contrast this with actual professional drug supply, and that means filming with serious career criminals - not the piecemeal punters seen last night. Still, in terms of Editorial Policy, this is a huge step in the right direction. Good one BBC.
DB, Newcastle UK
Drugland: London
If only the government would accept the reality of drugs in Britain as Phil Rees so vividly portrayed in last night's Drugland on BBC Two. I am a heavy long-term recreational user of cannabis and I have experimented with cocaine and ecstasy without any ill effects. In addition, I work as a professional in London with a highly paid job. I appreciated a non-biased report on the UK drugs trade (people like Ticketman and Dial-a-Gram have been operating in London for the last 10 years) and look forward to the coming episodes. Perhaps this programme will encourage government to end prohibition before drugs are forced even further into the hands of faceless organised crime lords. Because lets face it, the war on drugs was a war lost several decades ago.
Adski, London, UK
I admit I was impressed. At last a programme that dares to tell it how it is. For too long society has permitted some recreational drugs whilst making arbitrary prohibitive decisions about others. How quickly we allowed Viagra to become a legal substance - because it allows elderly gentlemen to perform? Viagra is a manufactured recreational drug with medical uses. Yet we tell the MS sufferers to wait a little longer before medical cannabis is legal - despite the fact that this natural herb has been used for over a thousand years for its many properties.
OK, getting on my hobby horse here. But I have been a recreational cannabis user for over 20 years. I have a responsible, well-paid job and like to relax with some space cake at weekends. I don't drink or smoke fags because, well, I am careful about my health. That's my informed choice and no business of governments to dictate.
I was glad to see a programme that shows that drug users are just normal folk and not possessed of the devil. Good on yer BBC. There's hope of an informed debate even now.
Paul Angel, Preston
The programme glamorised drug dealing to a certain extent. However, as someone who has been caught up in both the dealing and using side of recreational drugs for the past four years, I can say that it was accurate and informative, not full of the usual scaremongering associated with this sort of programme. I do think that it was a good programme for older people or people with the attitude that drug takers are criminals to watch, but, more than likely it was watched by a younger audience or people who already take drugs, just so they can see a programme about drug dealing.
Chris, Wales
Wow. The best thing on TV this year. It's a shame that the government won't look at the drug laws in the same unbiased way. 2005 looks likely to see 24 hour drinking and magic mushrooms made illegal.
Si, Southsea, UK
One of the worst programmes I have ever seen about drugs/drugs use. Nice one.
Toby Etheridge, London
What a refreshing programme, for once a documentary is made which sets out to do little more than tell the truth, to explain the reality, not to spin a stylized version of events. Here is a program identified with by probably half of the urban population who are under 35's in some way or another. Heavy on fact and slender on opinions - television that refreshingly credits the viewer with the intelligence to form their own opinion. The BBC is to be commended.
S, Bristol
So what exactly was this programme achieving? Surely there is already enough media activity glamorising recreational drug taking without the BBC stepping in. I saw 50ish minutes of users and dealers talking about how wonderful Class A drugs are and how much money can be made from them, followed by less than 10 minutes of throw-away comments about the bad points. Is this really educational television? How many more people are now thinking about getting high at the weekend?
What was barely mentioned was that while cocaine feels great when you take it, later on you feel depressed, paranoid, anxious and unconfident and these feelings last far longer than any high you will experience. And there is no denying that it is addictive. As David Bowie once said, "It empties your wallet, burns your skin and rots your brain."
There is surely no doubt that the current government policy on recreational drugs isn't working and this needs to be addressed. For years we have been hearing scare stories associated with using drugs. More recently it appears that this is turning on its head. Has the balance of this programme overstepped the mark? All intelligent people know that drugs are enjoyable - why else would anyone take them? Fifty minutes of glamorisation will only inspire even more people to try them. The only people who benefit from this kind of publicity are dealers who will make yet more money.
The whole 'treat people like adults and let them make their own choices' argument is all well and good for those blessed with plenty of willpower. We would probably all like to think we are these people. Really many people struggle to find the willpower to quit smoking or even resist eating the whole packet of chocolate biscuits. When the government is encroaching on civil liberties by banning smoking in public places and toying with the idea of super-taxing calorific foods, why does the BBC believe a programme mainly glamorising hard drugs is useful?
Richie, London, England
| My god. At last. A well informed, unbiased, in depth view of the British drug culture. |
I would just like to say that it is good to see the media showing drugs from a point of view different to the one we see usually - where they are tarred with the brush of all been addictive and connected with violence. Its about time that both the good and bad sides of drugs are shown rather then the government wanting to broadcast their propaganda about them. Also I couldn't agree more with the statement "I don't think there's any other area of social policy where we would apply the same policy year in year out for decades only to show that the problem got worse every year, and yet still continue with it saying well if we keep doing it, it might work one day."
Matthew, Leeds
Fantastic. Finally a truthful insight into the not so seedy world of drugs. The image of the scruffy heroin addict has been associated with drugs for too long, this as is shown on your programme is rarely the case. Is this one step towards the end of the joke of prohibition? We wont get our hopes up.
Neil, Brigg, Lincolnshire
Are you all totally mad, what an advert for drugs, on how to get them and how to use them. Why didn't you show the kids in mental wards climbing the walls, screaming and ruining their lives. What about the paranoia, the mood swings and the debts they run up. As a mother of three kids I am disgusted. One of my sons is trying to get his girlfriend to stop taking coke, she just said see everyone is taking it what's your problem. Are you all advocating drugs now for everyone? Are you trying to brain wash the kids that this is the way to go. The only way I could understand such a programme would be to show the broken lives and broken families caused by drugs. Life's failures whose lives have fallen apart from drug usage. Next you will be showing sex with children and telling us all about that so that more people will go out and do it. There was no justification whatsoever for this programme.
Jill Carr, London
My god. At last. A well informed, unbiased, in depth view of the British drug culture. The users are not all going to die a nasty death. The dealers don't hang around school playgrounds.
Damo, Lincoln
I thoroughly enjoyed this programme and I find it almost encouraging. Although I don't always agree with drug dealing I agree that "Montana" should not feel responsible for peoples lives being messed up by drugs. I have always been of the opinion that people can independently make their own decisions and if they choose to take drugs then they need to pay the consequences. Most of the dealers interviewed had served some sort of jail sentence and they see it as a consequence of their "job". The most important point that I hope the "people in power" take from this is the point made about cannabis users who 99 per cent find that it does not affect their everyday lives. I am hoping that this may make some step to legalising it, but I know that I am in a land of dreams on this point. Being a cannabis user myself I have never been tempted to use anything else. I personally don't have any interest in any other drugs. It does not lead to stronger drugs and anyone that thinks this does not have the right facts at their disposal. It is all about the personality and not the drugs themselves.
Daniel Martin, Portsmouth
Illegal drug use and dealing should be legalised immediately and let them pay tax on it. Let them pay for the NHS and schools etc. There should also be a clampdown on drugs and driving and drugs at work with this policy.
James D, Bathgate, Scotland
This programme was a virtual advert for the benefits of drug-taking. The graphic descriptions of the pleasures to be experienced practically guaranteed participation. The assertions made by the baseball-capped 'expert' regarding addiction were as juvenile as his appearance.
Fran Witherden, Ramsgate, Kent
A very good programme but I wasn't surprised that people living and working in such a stressful, boring and fast paced environment, as England is today, wouldn't look for some escape. The majority of recreational cocaine users are professionals working in these highly pressurised conditions. However this is not the problem; the real problem is at the other end of the scale where heroin and crack is not recreational but a matter of life and death.
Robert Carr, London
Drugland made this way of life appear acceptable. I hope you are also making a programme about the down side of drugs - being unable to function normally; losing jobs; paranoia; depression; being arrested; losing family and home; the hitting rock bottom; rehab - or death. Drugs are not normal, for two minutes of happiness follows a life time of hell, not just for the drug user, but even more so for their families. I know, my 25 year old son is an addict. Today he has been to NA, Narcotics Anonymous, and today he hasn't used - but who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Jane Bentley, Berkshire
| I hold down a responsible, high paying job and work very hard. My predilection for a joint in the evening for relaxation rather than an alcoholic beverage has never had any debilitating effect whatsoever on my work. |
It was said on the programme about dealers messing peoples lives up but don't we have pubs and clubs and off licences that sell alcohol, that makes people violent and kills more people a year than drugs do? You don't hear of any one person beating another person on weed or ecstasy. You probably see in the paper a few times a year about some one dying from an ecstasy tablet. How big would the paper be if they were to print all the people that died from alcohol related things?
Mick, Lancashire
Just watched the programme. Apart from not being realistic, what was the point? Advertising easy money? I live in the part of the street that drug dealers use as their office. I can not sleep because of them and their customers. Because of their shouting, laughing, fighting, screaming. They are true pushers, and not some easy-going people as BBC tried to portray them. I am sick of seeing my taxes going to these low-life's for paying their council flats and child support so they can afford flashy cars and the rest. Out of all the calls I made, the police came to arrest only one dealer. And it is not their fault, they know that many of these people won't even be sent to jail, so why bother.
Sasha, London, UK
I found the first programme in your series very interesting and moderately amusing, mainly because of the comical dealer aliases and the fact that the general public may have had their stereotypical views inherited from the media, film and music changed into something more realistic. I think that educating those without sufficient knowledge on the subject may lead to controlling the 'problem' with less people taking drugs out of curiosity.
Craig, Devon
Great start to what I hope will continue to be a well balanced and informative series. Good to see it being told as it actually is for a change. It will almost certainly shock many people to discover what little problems recreational drugs cause, but they need it. Hope many of my friends watched it.
Tom, Gloucester
These featured dealers all have some things in common: They all feel sorry for themselves; They all probably accept state benefits; They all do not pay taxes;They would all be sentenced to death in many countries.
Mark, Hastings
I found the first episode of this documentary which covers the use of marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy very refreshing in it's honesty. I used all of these drugs recreationally over a three year period until I grew out of it eight years ago. I feel scaremongering tactics will not get through to the younger generation and once used they will 'switch off' to anything else you have to say. I think a mature honest approach, such as those used in this programme would be more effective and that the politicians should apply these methods.
Anne, London
| I was absolutely repulsed by the way this programme glamorised drug-taking through its artistic use of lighting, filming and music. |
Could not agree more with Producer Phil Rees' comments on the failure of the UK drug policy in tonight's "Drugland" on BBC Two. I thought the programme was well researched and matched my personal experience of life around recreational drug users. I have smoked marijuana regularly for many years (in my late 30's now) and have never found a problem with it. I have also tried hallucinogens including LSD and Psilocybin mushrooms. I did Cocaine once - nice, but wasn't happy with its slightly addictive qualities, so haven't used since.
I hold down a responsible, high paying job and work very hard. My predilection for a joint in the evening for relaxation rather than an alcoholic beverage has never had any debilitating effect whatsoever on my work. I understand that this is not the same for everyone and that people with any kind of family history of mental or psychological illness should steer well clear and also that there are those that have naturally addictive and/or self-destructive personalities, but the fact is that I am aware now of many people that take recreational drugs (in moderation) and it causes them no problems whatsoever with work/home/life responsibilities. We need a progressive UK drug policy, now.
Well done Phil Rees and the BBC for pulling no punches with this programme.
Jason, UK
An absolutely fascinating insight into the world of drug users and drug dealers. Nothing that anybody can say would make me accept that drug dealing is an honourable way to make a living. It stinks. If it weren't for the weak and, in some cases, pathetic, individuals that want the drugs, there would be no market for it. I particularly liked the comment from one dealer, when asked whether he felt any blame or responsibility for the lives of those that took the drugs and the harm that it did to that persons life, career, family, he replied "No" (or words to that effect!). And he's right. It goes back to the individual's choice.
Gareth, London, England
| Well done for a frank and realistic look at recreational drug use that shows the reality of drugs for the majority of people in the UK today. |
As a semi regular drug user (maybe 2grams of coke and 4 pills a month) It is obvious to me that the only way to cut crime in this country is to remove the link between drug abuse and crime. The government knows it but is to scared of the rabid right wing press in this country.
Eddie, Hemel Hempstead
The laws on recreational drugs do not work it is Futile to expect them to be effective. cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine should be legal like it was in the good old days.
Disco Dave, Southampton
I was absolutely repulsed by the way this programme glamorised drug-taking through its artistic use of lighting, filming and music. It sent no negative messages to youngsters who may be exposed to the drug scene, but made it look normal, attractive and easy to dabble in drugs. I am only relieved that my children are not yet old enough to be watching such a programme, although at 10 years old my daughter could easily have still been up to see it. Why doesn't the BBC stop promoting crooks as role models?
Louise Flude, Chichester
Having been in the "drugs scene" myself for the last 20 years, I found Drugland excellent as it stated the things that my friends and I have found in our many and varied uses we've had for recreational chemicals. The only statement made in the programme I didn't agree with was that about the senior generation of recreational cocaine users are now in they're 30's is wrong - we're actually in our 40's. Myself and my brother have both grown up with drugs since our teens.
Steve, Staffs
I felt your programme did little to discourage the usage of drugs, in fact quite the opposite. I'm sure many of the people in your programme "bigged" themselves up and I thought it was a fair but not totally accurate reflection of the way things are. All in all a disappointing programme and I eagerly await the other two episodes.
Steve Kane, Cambridge
Well done for a frank and realistic look at recreational drug use that shows the reality of drugs for the majority of people in the UK today. It will be interesting to see the other perspectives in the upcoming programmes
Eddi, Jersey/Glasgow
The assertion that dial-a-gram is a new style of service is incorrect. I have personally been scoring cannabis and cocaine from motorised home delivery services in London for well over a decade. I am a highly qualified professional, and a respected member of my community.
AJ, London, UK
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