Research

We broke down what kind of research we would be needing to help plan/script our documentary, the areas that we should look into are the following

Cannabis
- Gateway drug?
- Content Of Cannabis - What is it laced with? - Adding glass, washing up liquid.


Bubble
- Death through Bubble?
- Mixing with alcohol
- Distinctive rash/scars?

Social
- Unemployment
- Environment

Physical
- The development on you?
- Munchies

Mental
- Paranoia
- Depression
- Dementia
- Short Term Memory
- Triggers?


Law
- Growing cannabis
- Possession
- Connection to other crimes
- Out of your depth

Primary Research - Ask Frank
http://www.talktofrank.com/drug/mephedrone#aka=Bubble

This has pretty much everything you need to know about Bubble.

Mephedrone AKA - 4-MMC, Bounce, Bubble, Charge, Drone, M-Cat, MC, Meow Meow, Meph, Miaow, White Magic.

What is mephedrone? Mephedrone (often called ‘meow meow’) is a powerful stimulant and is part of the cathinone family, a group of drugs that are closely related to the  amphetamines – including amphetamine itself (often called ‘speed’), methamphetamine and ecstasy. There is very little evidence about mephedrone and what long-term effects it has, but there have reports of people hospitalised due to the short-term effects. 

Also, you can never be entirely sure that what you’re buying is actually mephedrone and not something else.

The main effects and risks of mephedrone include:

• Euphoria, alertness and feelings of affection towards the people  around you.
• Feelings of anxiety and paranoia.
• Mephedrone, or meow meow, can also overstimulate your heart and circulation; and can overstimulate your nervous system, with risk of fits.

What does mephedrone look like?

Mephedrone can be found as a fine white, off-white or a yellowish powder. It was originally sold over the internet as a ‘legal’ alternative to drugs like speed, ecstasy and cocaine.

But to get around the law, dealers said that the mephedrone they were selling was plant food or a bath salt and not for human consumption. On average a gram of meph costs between £20 and £30.

How do people take Meph?

Meph is usually snorted like cocaine or is wrapped in paper and swallowed ("bombed" is a slang name used for this). It can also be found as capsules and pills and can be smoked. In rare cases Bubble has been injected.

Injecting Meow Meow, and sharing injecting equipment including needles and syringes, runs the risk of the person injecting catching or spreading a virus such as HIV or Hepatitis C.

There is also the risk that veins may be damaged and that something nasty will develop, such as an abscess or clot.

What does MC do?

White Magic is often described as a mix between amphetamines, ecstasy and cocaine. The effects of Bounce last for about an hour, but this can vary

• It can make you feel alert, confident, talkative and euphoric - and some people will temporarily feel strong affection to those around them
• Charge can make users feel sick, paranoid and anxious, and it can cause vomiting and headaches.
• It risks overstimulating and damaging your heart and your circulation.
• It also risks overstimulating and damaging your heart and your circulation.
• It also risks overstimulating your nervous system, which may cause hallucinations, feelings of agitation and even fits.
• It can reduce your appetite, so you don't feel hungry.

Other effects that people have reported include heart palpitations, insomnia, loss of short-term memory, vertigo, grinding of teeth, sweating and uncomfortable changes in body temperature.

Secondary Research.
First hand experience with the drug, reported by Max Pemberton on the 20th March 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/7481469/I-took-mephedrone-and-I-liked-it.html

So what are the risks?

Taking Meph does involve risks - and the dangers and long term effects and becoming clearer as much reports emerge. Here's what we know:

• Users have reported blue or cold fingers - this is probably because Miaow affects the heart and the circulation.
• Some users have also had severe nosebleeds after snorting Meph.
• There were six deaths involving MC reported in 2010 in England and Wales.

Secondary Research

This isn't strictly true as this report from the BBC back in 2010 says.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10184803 

• Overheating has been a significant cause of deaths when other amphetamine-type drugs, such as ecstasy, have been used along with Meph.

Meph and alcohol

You increase the risks to yourself if you combine alcohol with mephedrone or any other drug that causes a ‘high’ – including increasing the risk of death.

What is mephedrone cut with?

Mephedrone is sometimes mixed or cut with other substances, such as caffeine. In some cases, the powder people buy from a dealer contains no mephedrone at all!

Can you get addicted to mephedrone?

The simple answer is – yes – you can get addicted to mephedrone. Reports say that mephedrone use can lead to a strong psychological dependence on the drug, and can lead to the user craving – and taking – increasing amounts. 

This kind of behaviour increases all of the above risks to your health. Some users say that once they have started a mephedrone session, they find it very difficult to stop until they’ve used their entire supply - this is sometimes called ‘fiending’.

Meph and the law

• Meph is a Class B drug - so it's illegal to have for yourself, give away or sell.
• Possession is illegal and can get you up to five years in jail and/or an unlimited fine
• Supplying someone else, even your friends, can get you fourteen years in jail and/or an unlimited fine.

What if you’re caught?

If the Police catch you with mephedrone, they’ll always take some action. This could include a formal caution, arrest and prosecution.

A conviction for a drug-related offence could have a serious impact. It can stop you visiting certain countries – for example the United States – and limit the types of jobs you can apply for.

Did you know?

Like drinking and driving, driving when high is illegal - and you can still be unfit to drive the day after using mephedrone. You can get a heavy fine, be disqualified from driving or even go to prison.

Allowing other people to use drugs in your house or any other premises is illegal. If the police catch someone using drugs in a club they can prosecute the landlord, club owner or person holding the party.

Primary Research

Ask Frank

http://www.talktofrank.com/drug/cannabis

Cannabis AKA: Bhang, Bud, Dope, Draw, Ganja, Grass, Hash, Hashish, Herb, Marijuana, Pot, Puff, Resin, Sensi, Sinsemilla, Skunk, Weed.

What is cannabis? It’s the most widely-used illegal drug in Britain. But there’s a whole lot more to learn about it, and what it does to you.

• Cannabis is naturally occurring - it is made from the cannabis plant.
• The main active chemical in it is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC for short).
• THC is the ingredient in cannabis that can make you feel very chilled out, happy and relaxed.
• THC can also make you hallucinate, meaning that it can alter your senses, so that you might see, hear or feel things in a different way to normal.

A big myth about cannabis is that it’s safe because it’s natural. Cannabis has some very real effects on your mood, as well as creating longer-term problems:

• Cannabis can make you feel very anxious and even paranoid.
• Using it has also been linked, in some people, to serious, long term mental health problems.

Cannabis is still the most commonly used illegal drug. However, it isn’t as popular as it used to be: just 1 in 6 people aged 16-24 had tried it in 2010/11.

What are the different types of cannabis? 

Although it’s all from the same plant, cannabis comes in many different forms.

Hash

• Hash is a black or brown soft lump made from the resin of the cannabis plant. It's much less common in the UK than it used to be. It costs about £26 per quarter ounce.

Grass/weed

• Grass, also known as weed, is made from the dried leaves and flowering parts of the female cannabis plant and looks like tightly packed dried herbs. This traditional grass was normally imported and much weaker than the "skunk" types of cannabis usually sold now. Grass costs around £30 per quarter ounce.

Skunk

• Skunk is the term used to refer to strong forms of herbal cannabis that have increasingly dominated the UK market. They are, on average 2-4 times stronger than cannabis that was used in the past. They include: Sinsemilla, with no seeds; homegrown, plants grown indoors with the aid of artificial light, heat and nutrients "skunk", which has a particularly strong smell and netherweed, an imported form of strong herbal cannabis, skunk costs around £50 per quarter ounce.

Cannabis Oil

• Cannabis Oil is a sticky, dark honey-coloured substance and is much less common.

Cannabis Oil may be less common but this blogged report I came across seems to suggest that it could help prevent cancer.

http://greenwellness.org/cannabis-oil-a-real-miracle-medicine

How is cannabis taken?

There are a few ways of taking cannabis:

• Most people mix it with tobacco, roll it up into something known as a "spliff" or a "joint", and then smoke it.
• Some people smoke it using a type of pipe called a bong.
• Others drink or eat it mixed in cookies, cakes or even cups of tea. Taken this way, the effects of cannabis can be more difficult to predict or to control. It takes cannabis longer to get in to your body by this route; and so if unpleasant side effects do start to develop, it's too late to do very much about it except wait for the effects to reach their peak and than wear off.

What are the effects of cannabis?

Cannabis has a number of different effects. It is classed as a sedating and hallucinogenic drug. Its effects can turn out to be pleasant or unpleasant:

• Taking cannabis can make people feel chilled out, relaxed and happy, and they may get the giggles or become very talkative.
• It can make you more aware of your senses, and the hallucinogenic effects can even give you a feeling of time slowing down.
• It can make you feel very hungry - this is sometimes called "getting the munchies".
• Some people have one or two drags on a joint and feel light-headed, faint and sick. This is sometimes called a "whitey".
• Cannabis may cause feelings of anxiety, suspicion, panic and paranoia.

Cannabis can mess with your mind

• Cannabis can freak you out - it can cause feelings of anxiety, suspicion, panic and paranoia.
• For people with illnesses such as schizophrenia, cannabis can cause a serious relapse.
• Regular cannabis use is known to be associated with an increase in the risk of later developing psychotic illnesses including schizophrenia; and if you have a family background of mental illness, you may also have an increased risk.
• Cannabis can affect the way the brain works. Regular, heavy use makes it difficult to learn and concentrate and research has linked cannabis use to poor exam results. This is a potentially serious risk if you're young. People who take a lot of cannabis can also find they lack motivation.

Cannabis can mess with your body. 

• Smoking cannabis can make asthma worse, and cause wheezing in non-asthma sufferers.
• It can increase the heart rate and affect blood pressure, which can be especially harmful for those with heart disease.
• It is reported that frequent use of cannabis may affect fertillity. It can cut a man's sperm count and can suppress ovulation in women.
• If you're pregnant, smoking cannabis may increase the risk of your baby being born smaller than expected.

What is the effect of mixing cannabis and alcohol?

Mixing cannabis with alcohol can have particularly serious consequences - the accident rate is 16 times higher than for cannabis or alcohol alone.

What is cannabis cut with?

Cannabis may be ‘cut’ with other substances to increase the weight and the dealer’s profits.

• Impurities in cannabis may include a variety of substances, with laboratory-confirmed reports of glass and pesticides being found in herbal forms of cannabis; and with hash/resin frequently being mixed with a range of substances to increase weight and the dealer's profits. In April 2010, a study, looking into contaminants in drugs reported that there were cases of cannabis being adulterated with henna, lead and aluminium.
• Any impurities you smoke could be inhaled in to the lungs alongside the wide range of chemicals is naturally found in cannabis.
• Like tobacco, cannabis has lots of chemical "nasties". So if you smoke it, cannabis could cause lung disease and possibly cancer too, especially when smoked with tobacco.

Can you get addicted to cannabis?

The simple answer is ‘yes, people do become dependent on cannabis’. This means you can get 'cravings’ for cannabis, and may have difficulty staying off it even if you recognise using it has started to cause you problems.

And regular users can also get some unpleasant withdrawal symptoms on stopping, including irritability, mood changes, feeling sick, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping; and even sweating, shaking and diarrhoea in some people.

And regular users can also get some unpleasant

You’re also at real risk of getting addicted to nicotine, or staying addicted to it, if you roll your spliffs with tobacco.

Cannabis and the law

• Cannabis is a Class B drug - it's illegal to have for yourself, give away or sell.
• Possession is illegal whatever you're using it for, including pain relief. The penalty is up to five years in jail.
• Supplying someone else can get you fourteen years and an unlimited fine.

What if you're caught with cannabis?

If the Police catch you with cannabis, they’ll always take some action. This could be a warning, a reprimand, a formal caution, a fixed penalty or an arrest and possible conviction.

A conviction for a drug-related offence could have a pretty serious impact. It can stop you visiting certain countries – for example the United States – and limit the types of jobs you can apply for.

This site backs up a lot of what I found on Frank
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo/problems/alcoholanddrugs/cannabis.aspx

We brought up in class the possibility that perhaps Cannabis could lead to harder drugs, this news story form the BBC says that it isn't a reality.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2538065.stm