Leah Betts anniversary
by Barry on Nov.13, 2011, under Health
On this day, 16 years ago, an Essex teenager allegedly consumed one ecstasy tablet, fell into a coma and died three days later. I recall a massive media campaign and schools education programme at the impressionable age of 14. Every kid of that era will know that they should never ever take ecstasy or they will die.
Experience (of others) has shown that this is not the case. I only discovered recently that Leah Betts actually died from consuming 12 pints of water in 90 minutes which caused water intoxication leading to her brain swelling, coma and ultimately death.
The lies people tell to children eh?
November 18th, 2011 on 12:12 am
Hi Barry – I have to confess I am a bit surprised a Green candidate was not aware of this, as members of the Green Party in East Anglia were at the forefront of trying (ultimately unsucessfully) to combat the backlash/moral panic caused by this incident – though I do realise now you are a in fact fair few years younger than me (I was in my early 20s in 1995 and already a regular raver and part time DJ).
As well as the media campaign, all 3 constabularies in the area took a hardline approach, shutting down legal events with a certain amount of brutality, this being tolerated and even encouraged by the non=drug using population!
I did not live here then – I was in SE England but even 120 miles away there were similar clampdowns of nightlife.
Of course the net result of this was to push the scene further underground – in this region illegal raves became common and persisted until the late 2000s (which had a unwanted consequence of meaning you often needed a car to get to them , and the party scene ultimately being taken over by gary boy types).
by the mid 2000s the Police gained new surveillance and comms systems and managed to close down more illegal events and make the stakes for holding them higher, anything from the loss of the sound equipment used to the organisers liberty!
Because of this, ravers had become stubborn but dumbed down and increasingly younger, so easier to pick off as the slightly older ones who knew how to bend the rules without provoking the cops into responding with public order gear (riot squad) drifted away (most were and are professional people some with young families).
it ia true a single tablet rarely does kill, but excessive MDMA use especially combined with that of other party drugs does cause a variety of long term physical and mental health problems, which many of the old skool ravers are suffering from.
It is a vicious circle as the stubborn young kids deal more drugs (particularly ketamine) to replace confiscated sound equipment (so they go from hedonists to money launderers) and the health problems and refusal to forgive and forget events of the 90s mean that many dance music events are classed as “risky”, so now even legal events in Suffolk are far harder to put on, encouraging the more stubborn youngsters to drive 200 miles to events elsewhere (and now RTCs kill them more than drugs do!)
On the outset it looked like they have “dealt with” the problem of raves but the reality is that instead young people go straight to hard drugs like heroin and crack (particularly across the Stour in Essex), or they end up drinking way more than ever, or just sit at home and take their drugs, or as I said drive to other areas.
Worse, this is masked by the relatively high birth rate and early parenthood in this area (which means its easy enough to throw whole generations of kids on the scrap heap – for instance some of the street drinkers are still in their 20s) – also many young hedonists simply moving away from the region permanently (especially for university or simply because “EA is boring and locked down) and migration of other young folk into the area much of it *not* from foreign lands but from other areas of the UK where they are tired of the amount of drugs and crime!
A better solution would be to tolerate legal dance events in the area again like in NL, but there are still issues with regard to preventing gangs of dealers fighting and crime/anti social behaviour. However, the current policy of “east anglian stubbornness” is clearly costing young lives across the region.
Alex (aka General Lighting – PartyVibe)
November 21st, 2011 on 10:26 pm
Hi Alex. Thanks for the insight into the world of ravers. As I said, I was only 14 at the time and this was the first time I learnt anything about drugs. I knew even less about politics at the time! It’s surprising for me looking back recalling the lies I was told as a child by trusted characters.
My view on substance use is to let people consume what they like, whether it is illegal substances or legal ones such as tobacco, alcohol, caffeine or even sugar. The legal/illegal boundary seems quite arbitrary. More education and discussion of the facts is most helpful. Scaring people with tall tales of death by one pill is not helpful.
As you say, it is common knowledge that regular substance use causes physical, mental and social problems. I have never understood why people choose to partake in such destruction.
November 28th, 2011 on 10:18 am
You didn’t know this Barry?
I’ve been moaning for years about the Leah Betts reaction in my pro drugs rants. Coming soon as one of my policies…
I suppose you also didn’t know that climate change is a myth created by the University of East Anglia?