Revealed: The True Scale of Britain’s Illegal Drug Use

THE TELEGRAPH: National Crime Agency exposes increasing ketamine use in England amid surge in ‘drug cocktails’

Ketamine usage more than doubled in England last year amid the rising popularity of designer “drug cocktails”, The Telegraph can reveal.

The largest and most accurate study of its kind, conducted on behalf of the National Crime Agency (NCA), has exposed a dramatic rise in the popularity of the drug.

Almost 25 tonnes of ketamine were consumed in England last year, up from 10.6 tonnes in 2023.

The drug is now more popular than heroin, with the worst hotspots in Norwich, Liverpool, and Wakefield.

The findings are revealed in Home Office data, seen by The Telegraph, which will form part of the NCA’s annual threat assessment next week. The agency, dubbed Britain’s FBI, will warn of a rise in the use of several recreational drugs in Britain, including a 10 per cent increase in cocaine. » | Tony Diver, Associate Political Editor | Friday, February 21, 2025

It is astonishing indeed that our politicians worry about people enjoying a cigarette when all this is going on! How much sense does it make for Starmer and his clique to introduce a generational smoking ban when so many in the country are as high as kites on drugs? – © Mark Alexander

Is Trump Right about the Canadian Border? | About That

Dec 5, 2024 | U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and his incoming border czar claim their country's northern border with Canada is a threat to national security. Andrew Chang breaks down the basis of the claims about drugs and illegal migrants streaming into the country from Canada, and to what extent they're true.

How ‘Pink Cocaine’ Is Spreading across the World’s Party Scene – with Potentially Fatal Consequences

THE TELEGRAPH: The drug was reportedly found in Liam Payne’s system and, while unclear if it factored into his death, experts say it’s highly unpredictable

The brightly coloured drug, which originated in Colombia, is described as ‘addictive’ | Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP via Getty Images
On the Ibiza party scene, many revellers are hardly strangers to recreational drug use. But this summer, they were warned to take heed: a dangerous new party drug was emerging, the use of which was compared to playing Russian roulette.

Has “pink cocaine”, as it is known, now claimed its first high-profile victim? A post-mortem examination has reportedly found that Liam Payne, the former One Direction star, had it in his system when he fell to his death from his hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires on Oct 16. It is too soon to know if the fatal incident was attributable to the drug, but its potentially grave effects are already known.

In fact, pink cocaine is not one drug but a powdery cocktail, or pill, often including MDMA, ketamine and methamphetamine. Samples have also been found to include cocaine and opioids. Despite its name, cocaine is not necessarily part of the mix. It can be present, however, as can caffeine, hallucinogens such as mescaline or LSD, and stimulants known as bath salts. » | Rosa Silverman | Tuesday, October 22, 2024

THE GUARDIAN: What is pink cocaine? The party drug reportedly taken by Liam Payne: The drug cocktail that can contain ketamine, ecstasy, meth and crack has grown in popularity in recent years »

How much sense does it make for our weak and ineffectual politicians to worry about increasingly few young people taking up the cigarette-smoking habit with all this sh** going on? My advice: Don't sweat the little things! Concentrate on the really dangerous stuff! – © Mark Alexander

Klicken Sie hier, um eine entsprechende Dokumentation anzuzeigen. – Mark Alexander

Elon Musk Uses LSD, Cocaine, Ecstasy, Mushrooms: WSJ

Jan 8, 2024 | Elon Musk’s drug use has worried executives and board members at businesses he runs, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the billionaire and the companies. Musk has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, often at private parties, the Journal said, citing unnamed witnesses and others with knowledge of the matter.

How a Peaceful Country Became a Gold Rush State for Drug Cartels

Men detained during a police raid in suburb of Guayaquil.
THE NEW YORK TIMES: In Ecuador, an intelligence official said: “People consume abroad, but they don’t understand the consequences that take place here.”

A total of 210 tons of drugs seized in a single year, a record. At least 4,500 killings last year, also a record. Children recruited by gangs. Prisons as hubs for crime. Neighborhoods consumed by criminal feuds. And all this chaos financed by powerful outsiders with deep pockets and lots of experience in the global drug business.

Ecuador, on South America’s western edge, has in just a few years become the drug trade’s gold rush state, with major cartels from as far as Mexico and Albania joining forces with prison and street gangs, unleashing a wave of violence unlike anything in the country’s recent history.

Fueling this turmoil is the world’s growing demand for cocaine. While many policymakers have been focused on an epidemic of opioids, like fentanyl, that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year, cocaine production has soared to record levels, a phenomenon that is now ravaging Ecuador society, turning a once peaceful nation into a battleground.

“People consume abroad,” said Maj. Edison Núñez, an intelligence official with the Ecuadorean national police, “but they don’t understand the consequences that take place here.”

It’s not that Ecuador is new to the drug business. Squeezed between the world’s biggest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, it has long served as an exit point for illicit products bound for North America and Europe. » | Julie Turkewitz | Photographs by Victor Moriyama | Reporting from Guayaquil, Ecuador | Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Afghanistan: Inside the Taliban's War on Drugs - BBC News

Jun 6, 2023 | Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders have been more successful in cracking down on opium than anyone ever has, a BBC investigation has found. The BBC has travelled to major poppy growing areas and had exclusive access to remote provinces where our journalists have seen that farmers have either not grown opium poppy complying with the Taliban’s ban, or they’ve had their poppy crops destroyed if they defied the order. This is backed by research from UK based experts who have analysed satellite images and said the drop in opium cultivation is likely to be as much as 80%. The crackdown has big global ramifications, with most of the world’s opium coming from Afghanistan.

Inside the Port Flooding Europe with Cocaine - BBC News

Dec 17, 2022 | The port of Antwerp in Belgium is largely seen as the capital of cocaine trafficking in Europe. Corruption and violence are now on the rise and the drug is widely available on the streets. Europe correspondent Nick Beake visited the city to find out how the problem has developed.

The Drug Fueling Conflict in Syria

Sep 21, 2015 • Syria's War Drug: A look inside production of Captagon, the powerful amphetamine being used by soldiers in Syria.
This Journeyman Pictures documentary is age-restricted, so it is available only on YouTube. It cannot be embedded on external websites. Here is a link to it. Be warned: It is not for the faint-hearted. It is also rather seedy. But it does open one’s eyes to a different and unsavoury side of life. – Mark
Un article lié à ce documentaire.

Spain Becomes Cannabis Hub as Criminals Fill Tourism Void

THE OBSERVER: With high profit margins and low risk of long jail time, Catalonia is now the marijuana capital of Europe, police warn

The decor is nightclub chic meets Turkish opium den. The lighting, soft pink and electric blue. And, were it not for the sweet waft of marijuana, it could be the lobby of a Las Vegas boutique hotel. In fact, it’s one of Barcelona’s 156 cannabis clubs, known as asociaciónes.

The idea was a quiet place where you could buy and smoke marijuana, often grown by members, and only on the premises, but many are now businesses and, police say, fronts for drug mafias. With the collapse of tourism, the cannabis business is one of very few thriving in Catalonia, but beyond the low lights and chilled vibe of the associations, darker forces are in play. An internal report by the Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan police, claims “Catalonia is the epicentre of Europe’s illegal marijuana market” and has become a net exporter of cannabis to other European countries. » | Stephen Burgen in Barcelona | Sunday, October 11, 2020

Saudi Playboy Caught Drug Driving McLaren Supercar through Hyde Park

Mohammad Al-Sharif, 22, confessed to smoking the drug

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Court hears Mohammad Al-Sharif, 22, was unsteady on his feet and had slurred speech when questioned by officers after taking cannabis

A rich Saudi playboy was caught by police driving his father's £168,500 McLaren supercar while high on cannabis through Hyde Park.

Mohammad Al-Sharif, 22, confessed to smoking the drug at 7.30am that morning and was unsteady on his feet with slurred speech when questioned by officers.

He pleaded guilty to driving a McLaren MP4-12c 3.8 litre twin-turbo V8 Velocita Wind Edition in West Carriage Drive on December 11 last year while unfit to drive through drugs.

Student Al-Sharif, who lives off a family allowance, was fined £400, with £85 costs and was ordered to pay an £85 victim surcharge. He was disqualified for twelve months.

The supercar, which goes from 0mph to 60mph in 2.8 seconds, has a makeover by German specialists DMC, which increases its brake horsepower to 650bhp and makes the car more powerful and luxurious. » | Agency | Wednesday, March 11, 2015

A Law for the Rich, A Law for the Poor: Nigella Legacy: Drugs Amnesty for Middle Class?

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain's most senior police officer says Scotland Yard will not investigate Nigella Lawson's confession to taking cocaine, despite previous tough talk on drugs

Britain's most senior policeman risked accusations of giving his approval to middle-class cocaine use after Scotland Yard said it would not investigate Nigella Lawson’s confession to taking class A drugs.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, allowed his force to put out a bizarrely-worded statement describing Miss Lawson’s admission under oath as an “allegation” which would not be investigated “at this stage”.

Anti-drug campaigners were baffled by Scotland Yard’s lack of action, which came as two former aides to Miss Lawson were cleared of fraudulently spending £685,000 on company credit cards. Sir Bernard has previously condemned the use of drugs by the middle classes.

The trial of Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo was overshadowed by disclosures of the television cook’s cocaine and cannabis use. » | Gordon Raynor | Friday, Decemebr 20, 2013

British Men Get Four Years for Possession of Drugs in Dubai
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Three British men sentenced to four years for possession of drugs in Dubai claim they were tortured by police.

Grant Cameron and Suneet Jeerh, both 25, and Karl Williams, 26, were jailed for possessing synthetic cannabis, known as “spice”.

The men, who are all from London, claim they were tortured by police following their arrest. Williams claims he had electric shocks to his testicles and all three said after they were arrested they had guns held to their heads by police.

Human Rights charity Reprieve said all three men signed documents in Arabic, a language none of them understands, while being threatened.

In a draft witness statement given to Reprieve lawyer Marc Calcutt, Williams describes having a towel put on his face by police and having electric shocks on his testicles.

He said: "They took off the towel and I could see that there was a gun pointed at my head. All I could think was that the gun in my face could go off if the policeman slipped, and it would kill me. I started to believe that I was going to die in that room." » | Claire Carter | Monday, April 29, 2013

German Quits 'Unhygienic, Drug-using' Taliban
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A German who volunteered to fight for the Taliban quit after becoming disheartened by the violence and annoyed with the group's macho and drug-taking world.

The former fighter also complained of the unhygienic conditions in the war-torn lands of Pakistan's Waziristan province and Afghanistan that left him infected with hepatitis, and which were, in his opinion, "incompatible with the teachings of the Koran".

The unflattering portrayal of life in the Taliban came in a statement made by Thomas U. during his trial in Berlin for involvement in a foreign terrorist group.

The 27-year-old had travelled to Waziristan with his wife in the autumn of 2009 with the intention of freeing the area from the "infidel occupiers" after the couple had converted to Islam. » | Matthew Day | Friday, November 02, 2012

HSBC 'Sorry' for Aiding Mexican Drugs Lords, Rogue States and Terrorists
THE GUARDIAN: Executive quits in front of US Senate as bank faces massive fines for 'horrific' lapses that resulted in laundering money for drugs cartels and pariah states


Executives with Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, were subjected to a humiliating onslaught from US senators on Tuesday over revelations that staff at its global subsidiaries laundered billions of dollars for drug cartels, terrorists and pariah states.

Lawmakers hammered the British-based bank over the scandal, demanding to know how and why its affiliates had exposed it to the proceeds of drug trafficking and terrorist financing in a "pervasively polluted" culture that persisted for years.

A report compiled for the committee detailed how HSBC's subsidiaries transported billions of dollars of cash in armoured vehicles, cleared suspicious travellers' cheques worth billions, and allowed Mexican drug lords buy to [to buy] planes with money laundered through Cayman Islands accounts.

Other subsidiaries moved money from Iran, Syria and other countries on US sanctions lists, and helped a Saudi bank linked to al-Qaida to shift money to the US. » | Dominic Rushe in New York | Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Money and Drugs: The Lethal Cocktail for Eva Rausing
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The sad life and death of Eva Rausing highlights the damage that inherited fortunes can cause
In 1944, Evelyn Waugh wrote a letter to an old friend, Coote Lygon, saying: “I am writing a very beautiful book, to bring tears, about very rich, beautiful, high-born people who live in palaces and have no troubles except what they make themselves and those are mainly the demons, sex and drink.”

The book was Brideshead Revisited – and the chief victim of those troubles was Lord Sebastian Flyte, a human parable of what too much money, charm and entitlement can do to your health.

If Waugh was writing Brideshead now, he’d throw in a third demon – drugs. Poor Eva Rausing, who was found dead this week, was the daughter of a rich American Pepsi-Cola executive who multiplied her fortune – and her troubles – a thousand times, with her marriage to Hans Kristian Rausing, joint heir to the £4.5 billion Tetra Pak fortune. It didn’t help that they met in rehab. As they don’t teach you in maths lessons in smart public schools, Predisposition Towards Drugs + Limitless Cash = Big Trouble.

There is a third element to the equation: too much playtime. It’s the drugs that actually shut down the body; but it’s the relentless dreariness of one empty day after another, with nothing to do – except the odd charity ball committee meeting and the forever unfinished screenplay – that buttresses the need for drugs. » | Harry Mount | Wednesday, July 11, 2012

British Woman Facing Death Penalty after Arrest on Suspicion of Trafficking Cocaine in Bali

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A British woman has been arrested for allegedly smuggling cocaine into the Indonesian island of Bali, and may face the death penalty under stiff anti-drug laws.

Customs officials detained the woman, identified as Lindsay June Sandiford, 55, on May 19 with almost five kg (11lbs) of cocaine after arriving at the airport in Denpasar on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok.

Police also revealed that they today arrested another British woman, two British men and an Indian man they believe may be connected.

"We arrested the suspect after we found 4,791 grams of cocaine in her suitcase. She hid it in the lining of her suitcase," said Denpasar airport customs chief I Made Wijaya told reporters.

"We conducted an X-ray scan on the luggage, found a suspicious substance in it and then examined it," he said.

The cocaine has a street value of more than £1.6 million and Sandiford, who told officials she is a housewife, faces the death penalty for drug trafficking, Mr Wijaya said. » | Sarah Dougherty in Denpasar | Monday, May 28, 2012

Barack Obama's Marijuana Smoking Days with the 'Choom Gang'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama is not the first President of the United States to confess to experimenting with recreational drug-use in those heady days before the gruelling demands of Washington took over.

However, while Bill Clinton notoriously "didn't inhale" at Oxford, Mr Obama took an altogether more enthusiastic approach to smoking marijuana in his youth, according to a new biography.

As a secondary school pupil in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the late 1970s, Mr Obama is said to have been a member of the "Choom Gang", a group of boys who played basketball and choomed, or smoked dope.

"Barry Obama was known for starting a few pot-smoking trends," according to David Maraniss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. "The first was called 'TA,' short for 'total absorption'." Mr Obama's favoured technique is described as "the antithesis" to Mr Clinton's eyebrow-raising claim to have barely participated in – and certainly not enjoyed – smoking the drug as a Rhodes scholar at University College from 1968 to 1970.

Any Choom Gang members caught daring to exhale before absorption was total "were assessed a penalty" and faced being "skipped the next time the joint came around," according to 'Barack Obama: The Story'.

All told, the future president is said to have been a bit of a drag. "When a joint was making the rounds, he often elbowed his way in, out of turn, shouted 'Intercepted!,' and took an extra hit," said Maraniss. » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Friday, May 25, 2012

A Civilization on Edge: Amid Debt Crisis, Athens Falls Apart

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: As Greece struggles to master its devastating debt problem, decades of mismanagement have taken their toll on the country's once-proud capital. Athens has degenerated into a hotbed of chaos and crime, where tensions between Greeks and immigrants have led to attacks on foreigners by the far-right.

Massoud starts walking faster as the shadows lengthen. He glances at the scratched display on his mobile phone. It's 7:15 p.m.

The sun is setting behind the large apartment buildings on Patission Street, disappearing behind the few remaining classical facades where the plaster is beginning to crumble. "For Rent" and "For Sale" signs are posted on boarded-up windows or behind sheets of opaque glass.

Massoud is in a hurry. He wants to get home before dark, because that's when the people who are out to get him come out.

The gangs of right-wing thugs, sometimes up to 20 at a time, approach their victims on foot or on mopeds, carrying clubs and knives. They are masked, faceless and fast. They appear suddenly and silently before striking.

The neo-fascists are hunting down immigrants in the middle of downtown Athens, in the streets north of the central Omonia Square. They call it cleansing.

They hunt people like Massoud, a 25-year-old Afghan from Kabul. He has been living in Athens for five years without a residency permit, even though he speaks fluent Greek. He studied geography in Kabul, but in Athens he works as a day laborer.

The gangs also hunt the dark-skinned man pushing a shopping cart filled with garbage and scrap metal through the streets. Or the woman with Asian features, who now grabs her child and the paper cup with which she has just been begging in the streets. » | Julia Amalia Heyer | Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan | Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Part 2: Violence, Drugs and Disease »

Portugal's Effective Approach to Drugs
Portugal's approach is now being studied around the world. Just over 10 years ago it decriminalised the possession and use of drugs and expanded treatment for addicts.


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