Drugs & alcohol

Other names for drugs include: food, whites, brown, weed, pot, coke, crack, charlie, ganja, dope, tabs, pills, E, smack, gear, ket, K, acid, punk, monk, smarties, glue sniffing.

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You’ve probably seen someone on drugs or might have tried them yourself. 

We’re not going to tell you what’s right and wrong about drugs but we will give you the facts about how legal they are and what can happen if you’re caught with them. 

You can be arrested for using, having or supplying illegal drugs. It doesn’t matter if you have a small amount or loads, you can still be found guilty.

Illegal drugs are normally put into three categories, depending on how serious they are:

• Class A – most serious, e.g. cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, LSD. 
• Class B – second most serious, e.g. cannabis, speed, amphetamines.
• Class C – least serious, e.g. ketamine, tranquilisers.

If you have drugs in your pocket or your bag, you could be charged, whether it’s yours or not. The punishment you could face depends on the type of drug it is:

• Class A – up to 7 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.
• Class B – up to 5 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.
• Class C – up to 2 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

Dealing drugs is more serious than using or having them, e.g. if you sell drugs to your mates, the sentence is much worse than just using them:

• Class A – up to life in prison and/or an unlimited fine
• Class B/C – up to 14 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine

The police don’t have to catch you in the act if you’re supplying. They can charge you even if they just suspect you. 

Solvent abuse is when you inhale gases from things like spray cans, lighters, glue or nail varnish. The smell can make you feel drunk or hallucinate (see things that aren’t there).

Solvents aren’t illegal but are dangerous when you don’t use them for what they’re designed for. You could die from suffocating, throwing up or the solvent could freeze inside you.

Legal drugs mean they’ve been given to you by a doctor (prescribed) or bought at a chemist. 

Just because they’re legal, it doesn’t mean they’re safer than illegal drugs. If you take someone else’s prescribed drugs, they could be just as dangerous and addictive as illegal drugs.

Legal highs are substances which produce the same or similar effects to illegal drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy & cannabis. They are distinguished by their content rather than their effect and therefore avoid being classified as illegal substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Legal highs are illegal under current medicines legislation to sell, supply, or to be advertised for ‘Human Consumption’. Sellers get around this by referring to their products as pond cleaners, bath crystals and even plant food.  Just because a substance is legal it does not mean that it is SAFE for humans to use!  Some drugs which are advertised as legal highs may actually even contain one or two substances which are illegal.

There has been very little research on the effect of these legal highs on people. From recent high profile cases it is clear that legal highs are far from harmless and can have the similar health risks to illegal drugs such as speed & cocaine.  This includes; having a lack of inhibitions, drowsiness, paranoid states, seizures and even death.  The risk of these things happening often increase when mixed with alcohol and other drugs.

‘Legal highs’ can look very similar to illegal drugs, such as cocaine & ecstasy.  If the police find a ‘legal high’ in your possession, they can to confiscate it for testing, detain you for questioning, or even arrest you.  Teachers also have the powers to search pupils that they believe to be in possession of a banned drug.

Legal highs have many different names including DMC, NRG2, MDAI, BLU-E, EX1 and JOLLY GG.

If you have information about drug crime, be fearless and let us know anonymously.

Other names for alcohol include: booze, drink, poison, brew, brewski, vino, tipple, hard stuff, ethanol.

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Everyone knows about alcohol but do you know when it’s legal to drink and how it affects crime?

Under 5 – never.

Under 14 – can go into parts of some pubs but can’t drink. 

14-15 – can go in pubs but can’t drink. 

16-17 – can drink beer or cider in pubs as long as it’s with a meal.

18+ - can buy and drink alcohol on licensed premises, e.g. pubs or supermarkets.  

Having found out when it is legal to drink alcohol it is important to recognize why and how alcohol is linked to crime.

Drinking alcohol underage or in a public place is illegal but this is not the only issue.

When you drink alcohol it has a huge affect on your body. Alcohol acts as a ‘disinhibitor’. This means you will feel more confident and do things you might not usually do. Therefore if you drink too much alcohol at one time your confidence and judgment about situations becomes confused. As a as a result of this some people will find themselves committing crimes they would not have even considered if they were sober!

For example

• Starting fights
• Being anti social in public
• Urinating in the street (going to toilet!)

Drinking too much alcohol can have a serious affect on your health. Visit the NHS alcohol information pages about the long term health implications of alcohol.

If you have information about alcohol-related crime, be fearless and let us know anonymously.

Many street gangs are involved with the supply and dealing of drugs. This can be a way that gangs make money.

Dealing in drugs, like running a business has many different roles and levels of people controlling the entire operation. Young people are often involved at the street level dealing of drugs – often called runners. This can be very serious and if caught you could end up serving time in prison.

Not only is the act of dealing drugs illegal, but some street gang drug runners carry a weapon to protect themselves when walking the street with large amount of drugs or money. This in itself is also illegal and extremely dangerous.

If you have any information about criminal gangs, be fearless and let us know anonymously.