drugnerd | consciousness inhibitor

A shocking examination of just how far crack, heroin and other drug dealing has permeated everyday life among young people on estates in Greater Manchester, creating violence and crime in its wake.

For the first time, the programme films and interviews crack and heroin dealers as they ply their trade to “punters”.

It reveals a culture of “lay-ons” or drug loans to ever-younger “punters”, moving into heavy drugs use from early teens.

It culminates with footage of kids aged from 12-16 cutting and using crack, speed and cocaine as the drugs get passed down the dealers’ chain.

The film is a personal journey by a BBC journalist - Sarah O’Connell - who, as a child, used to know some of those now involved.

She returns to her home town, Bury - traditionally, a low-crime area of Greater Manchester - after the shooting of local crack dealer to find out from those inside the trade, user and dealers alike - why and how the drugs industry is taking hold of a new generation.

An inside look at an industry that employs 20,000 people in London. One in seven Londoners has used their products during the past 12 months.

The business is providing Class A drugs to hundreds of thousands - perhaps millions - of users every week.

For the first time on British television, drug dealers describe in detail the tricks of their trade; their

profits, the risks and the reasons why they deal.

The film unlocks the occult world of ‘Dealers’ and explodes the myths of drug taking in London.

“It’s just like Pizza Hut or Dominoes, 30 minutes guaranteed delivery”, says a dealer known as the Ticketman.

Another organisation called “Dial-a-Gram” claims to deliver a “customer-focussed service” anywhere in London, “I’ll deliver to the top of the London Eye” if you want, says ‘Montana’.

Professionals

Class A drugs could be used by the branch manager of your building society, your neighbour in suburbia or your colleagues at the office.

The programme shatters the common assumption that drug consumption is primarily the endeavour of a wasted and damaged fringe. It also shows how far cocaine is not the play thing of only wealthy celebrities.

The street price has dropped in real terms by a factor of five since the seventies. £40-50 will buy a gram, more than enough for a ‘weekender’ to enjoy a night with friends.

The popular acceptance of such drugs began with the ease of getting ecstasy in a generation where clubbing was part of growing up.

In London today, middle class professionals as well as council house residents regularly purchase ‘gear’ from men and women loathed as evil criminals by the popular majority.