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Charles I National College

CERTIFICATE IN ENGLISH

Drug Use in Britain

Student: Vrtopeanu Iulia-IuliaCoordinating teacher: Eduard Mossang

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

RATIONALE---------------------------------------------------------------------------3

TRENDS IN DRUG USE IN BRITAIN--------------------------------------------4

A. Medicinal Use-------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

B.Recreational Use-----------------------------------------------------------------------------4

C.The Most Popular----------------------------------------------------------------------------5

D. The Hardest----------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

DRUG EDUCATION-----------------------------------------------------------------8

DRUG AND THE LAW--------------------------------------------------------------9

Dealing with a Drug Offender---------------------------------------------------------------------9

DRUG AND ROMANTIC LITERATURE--------------------------------------10

RENTON: WHO NEEDS REASONS WHEN YOU GOT HEROIN?-------13

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RATIONALE

KILLING US SOFTLY

By the data it contains, my paper offers an overall picture of drug use in Britain.

I have to confess that I feel pretty uncomfortable when speaking about drugs having a huge impact

on people as it has been affecting me too, though, indirectly. However, I decided to choose "Drug

Use in Britain" as subject of my Certificate because it is a topic that I am familiarized with, and

which really concerns me - a good friend of mine is a drug addict.

I know him for years and I thought I had no reason to doubt our relationship. But things changed in

the last two years and drug consumption turned him into a very different person, one who stopped

caring about anything except for drugs.

He went from an above average student in his class to a repeat student, from a trustworthy friend

to a total stranger.He started to do things I never thought he would do before like bullying

students, and fighting without reason just because someone looked at him the wrong way. Herarely smiles or plays sports like he used to. He is always moody and angry with his friends and

teachers. He started to skip school once or twice a week and as no one seemed to care so he was

soon absent every day, because he had decided to give up studies.

I haven't seen him for a month as he spends all his time with his drug addict friends and out last

talk was nothing more than "How are you?, just like you say to a person you met yesterday.

I am extremely disappointed and terribly sad that drugs can "kill" relationships and I considered it

was appropriate to take this opportunity to reflect on the drug problem in the British countries and

to consider some of the challenges British drug users are likely to face, because I knew that the

research for my paper would provide me with better knowledge of and insight into the drugs issue.

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

The first chapter ('Trends in Drug Use in Britain') sets out evidence of UK trends in drugs use

showing a dramatic growth in their consumption. Moreover, it offers information about the most

popular drug in Britain, Cannabis, and the hardest one, Heroin, describing their impact on the body

and mind.

In the second chapter ('Drug Education) I wrote about the attempts that have been made in Britain

to prevent and treat drug use through advertising and educational programmes.

The third chapter ('Drugs and the Law') names the most important drug laws in UK and presents a

classification of drugs, given by The Misuse of Drugs Act depending on how harmful they are.There are also mentioned the major offences - possession of a controlled drug, supply and intent to

supply.

The forth and the fifth chapters ('Drugs and Romantic Literature' and 'RENTON: Who

needs reasons when you got heroin?') represent my personal contribution and show the

link between drugs and British literature in the Romantic period, as well as Trainspotting'sapproach to drugs.

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TRENDS IN DRUG USE IN BRITAIN

The term drug is of varied usage. In medicine, it refers to any substance with the

potential to prevent or cure disease or enhance physical or mental welfare, and in pharmacology toany chemical agent that alters the biochemical physiological processes of tissues or organisms.

Hence, a drug is a substance that is, or could be, listed in a pharmacopoeia.

In common usage, the term often refers specifically to psychoactive drugs, and often, even

more specifically, to illicit drugs, of which there is non-medical use in addition to any medical use.

Professional formulations (e.g. "alcohol and other drugs") often seek to make the point that

caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, and other substances in common non- medical use are also drugs in the

sense of being taken at least in part for their psychoactive effects.

A. MEDICINAL USE

A medication or medicine is a drug taken to cure and/or ameliorate any symptoms of an illness or

medical condition, or may be used aspreventive medicine that has future benefits but does not

treat any existing or pre-existing diseases or symptoms.

Dispensing of medication is often regulated by governments into three categories -over-the-

counter(OTC) medications, which are available inpharmacies and supermarkets without special

restrictions,behind-the-counter(BTC), which are dispensed by apharmacist without needing a

doctor's prescription, and Prescription only medicines (POM), which must be prescribed by a

licensed medical professional, usually aphysician.

In the United Kingdom, BTC medicines are called pharmacy medicines which can only be sold in

registered pharmacies, by or under the supervision of a pharmacist, these medications are

designated by the letter P on the label, the precise distinction between OTC and prescription drugs

depends on the legaljurisdiction.

Medications are typically produced by pharmaceutical companies and are oftenpatented to give

the developer exclusive rights to produce them, but they can also be derived from naturally

occurring substance in plants called herbal medicine. Those that are not patented (or with expired

patents) are called generic drugs since they can be produced by other companies without

restrictions or licenses from the patent holder.

B. RECREATIONAL USE

Recreational drugs use is the use of psychoactive substances to have fun, for the experience, or to

enhance an already positive experience. The slang term for this experience is "getting stoned" or"getting high." When a drug user is intoxicated, they may feel strange, happy, dizzy, or weird.

Some drugs such as marijuana and hashish often make users feel sleepy and relaxed. Some drug

users have feelings that they are floating or dreaming. Drugs such as LSD make people feel

intensely; they make one see and feel things like never before, and think things about the world

they would normally not. Some say it increases knowledge and creates wisdom. Other drugs such

as Crystal Meth make users feel excited and happy and full of energy.

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Recreational drug taking at the start of the 1960s was a minority activity closely associated with a

counter culture movement that involved experimentation with LSD and hallucinogenic drugs as

well as the use of cannabis. By the 1980s, hard drug use reached the urban poor, spreading

through the housing estates and inner city areas, offering an alternative way of life that was far

from benign.Trends over the early 1990s were mostly characterised by a continued evolution of pre-existing

national and cultural patterns of drug use (cannabis, heroin, LSD,cocaine). The use of codeinederivatives increased, and so did the use of various domestically produced poppy preparations

containing opiates which, after a pause in the late 1980s, increased again.

In the early 1990s, use of LSD, amphetamines and occasionally cocaine in nightspots was reported

among a small, fashionable crowd. Subsequently, from the mid to the late 1990s, there was some

increase among youth groups, especially in cities, of LSD, ecstasy and amphetamine use.

Over the second half of the 1990s, while previous drug use patterns continued, there was evidence

of a move towards cannabis use, among a cross-section of young people,heroin use in various

groups but increasingly among more marginalised communities, and the so-called 'party-drugs' use

(ecstasy and LSD),primarily among more affluent, city youth; cocaine use was still relatively rare.

Analyses of current trends indicate that the increase in drug use may have started to stabilise in the

early 2000s, especially in major cities, where prevalence levels are usually several times higher

than in rural areas (e.g. areas in Manchester, Glasgow and London are known to have beenblighted by drug use).

C. THE MOST POPULAR

1.What is it?Call it pot, grass, weed, or any one of nearly 200 other names, marijuana is, by far, Britains

most commonly used illicit drugand far more dangerous than most users realize.

Marijuana has been around for a long while. Its source, the hemp plant (cannabis sativa), was

being cultivated for psychoactive properties more than 2,000 years ago. Grown wild in many parts

of the world, its believed to have originated in the mountainous regions of India.

Although cannabis contains at least 400 different chemicals, its main mind-altering ingredient

is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol).The amount of THC in marijuana determines the drugsstrength, and THC levels are affected by a great many factors, including plant type, weather,

soil, and time of harvest. Sophisticated cannabis cultivation of today produces high levels of

THC and marijuana that is far more potent than pot of the past. THC content of marijuana,

which averaged less than 1 percent in 1974, nowadays rises to an average 4 percent.

In the UK marijuana is a Class B illegal drug.

2.How is it used?Marijuana and other cannabis products are usually smoked, sometimes in a pipe or water pipe,

but most often in loosely rolled cigarettes known as "joints." Some users will slice open and

hollow out cigars, replacing the tobacco with marijuana, to make what are called "blunts."

Joints and blunts may be laced with other substances, including crack cocaine and the potent

hallucinogen phencyclidine (PCP), substantially altering effects of the drug.Smoking, however, is not the sole route of administration. Marijuana can be brewed into tea or

mixed in baked products (cookies or brownies).

3.How does it affect you?A mild hallucinogen, marijuana has some of alcohols depressant and disinhibitingproperties.User reaction, however, is heavily influenced by expectations and past experience,

and many first-time users feel nothing at all.

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Effects of smoking are generally felt within a few minutes and peak in 10 to 30 minutes. They

include dry mouth and throat, increased heart rate, impaired coordination and balance, delayed

reaction time, and diminished short-term memory. Moderate doses tend to induce a sense of

well-being and a dreamy state of relaxation that encourages fantasies, renders some users

highly suggestible, and distorts perception (making it dangerous to operate machinery, drive acar or boat, or ride a bicycle). Stronger doses prompt more intense and often disturbing

reactionsincluding paranoia and hallucinations.

Most of marijuanas short-term effects wear off within two or three hours. The drug itself,

however, tends to linger on. THC is a fat-soluble substance and will accumulate in fatty tissues

in the liver, lungs, testes, and other organs. Two days after smoking marijuana, one-quarter of

the THC content may still be retained. It will show up in urine tests three days after use, and

traces may be picked up by sensitive blood tests two to four weeks later.

4.The impact on the mindMarijuana use reduces learning ability. Research has been piling up of late demonstrating

clearly that marijuana limits the capacity to absorb and retain information. A study of college

students discovered that the inability of heavy marijuana users to focus, sustain attention, and

organize data persists for as long as 24 hours after their last use of the drug. Researches,comparing cognitive abilities of adult marijuana users with non-using adults, found that users

fall short on memory as well as math and verbal skills. Although it has yet to be provenconclusively that heavy marijuana use can cause irreversible loss of intellectual capacity,

animal studies haveshown marijuana-induced structural damage to portions of the brain essential to memory and

learning.

5.The impact on the bodyChronic marijuana smokers are prey to chest colds, bronchitis, emphysema, and bronchial

asthma. Persistent use will damage lungs and airways and raise the risk of cancer. There is just

as much exposure to cancer-causing chemicals from smoking one marijuana joint as smoking

five tobacco cigarettes. And there is evidence that marijuana may limit the ability of theimmune system to fight infection and disease.

Marijuana also affects hormones. Regular use can delay the onset of puberty in young men and

reduce sperm production. For women, regular use may disrupt normal monthly menstrual

cycles and inhibit ovulation. When pregnant women use marijuana, they run the risk of having

smaller babies with lower birth weights, who are more likely than other babies to develop

health problems. Some studies have also found indications of developmental delays in children

exposed to marijuana before birth.

6.Teens and marijuanaAlthough dangers exist for marijuana users of all ages, risk is greatest for the young. For them,

the impact of marijuana on learning or on making appropriate life-style choices is critical. Thus,

marijuana can inhibit maturity.

Another concern is marijuanas role as a "gateway drug," which makes subsequent use of more

potent and disabling substances more likely.An Independent Drug Monitoring Unit analysis of7 successive British Crime Surveys for UK found adolescents who smoke pot 85 times more

likely to use cocaine than their nonpot smoking peers. And 60 percent of youngsters who use

marijuana before they turn 15 later go on to use cocaine.

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But many teens encounter serious trouble well short of the "gateway." Marijuana is, by itself, a

high-risk substance for adolescents. More than adults, they are likely to be victims of

automobile accidents caused by marijuanas impact on judgment and perception. Casual sex,

prompted by compromised judgment or marijuanas disinhibiting effects, leaves them

vulnerable not only to unwanted pregnancy but also to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

7.Marijuana dangers Impaired perception

Diminished short-term memory

Loss of concentration and

coordination

Impaired judgment

Increased risk of accidents

Loss of motivation

Diminished inhibitions

Risk of AIDS and other STDs

Increased heart rate

Anxiety, panic attacks, and paranoia

Hallucinations

Damage to the respiratory,

reproductive, and immune systems

Increased risk of cancer

Psychological dependence

D.THE HARDEST

1.What is it?Heroin is a morphine derivative, and morphine is opiums most potent active ingredient. First

synthesized in 1874, heroin was widely used in medicine in

the early part of the 20th Century, until its addictive potential was recognized. Pure

heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Street heroin may vary in color

from white to dark brown because of impurities or additives. There is a dark

brown or black form of the drug, as dense as roofing tar or coal, known as

"black tar."

Known on the street as smack, horse, H, junk, or scag, heroin is the most dangerous of the

abused narcotics in Britain. Narcotic drugs (also called opioids) are derivatives of the opium

poppy (Papaver somniferum) or chemically similar synthetics.

2.How is it taken?When prescribed, narcotics are most often taken by mouth. Heroin, however, is generally

inhaled or injected, although it may also be smoked. Heroin can be mixed with tobacco or

marijuana and smoked in a pipe or cigarette. It may also be heated and burned, releasing fumes

that users inhale ("chasing the dragon"). Users who choose injection, generally inject directly

into a major vein ("mainlining"), although some may start by injecting under the skin

("popping"). Heroin abusers often use other drugs as well. They may "speedball," taking

cocaine or methamphetamine with heroin, or use alcohol, marijuana, or tranquilizers to enhance

the high and blunt effects of withdrawal.

3. What is Heroins Behavioral Impact?

The behavioral impact of habitual heroin use is generally devastating. Most habitual users areincapable of concentration, learning, or clear thought. Rarely are they able to hold a job. They

are apathetic, indifferent to consequences, and unable to sustain personal relationships. For

many, the inability to honestly earn enough to meet their drug needs leads to crime. For the

overwhelming majority, compulsive use prompts behavior that is self-destructive and

irresponsible, often antisocial, and characteristically indifferent to the injury, pain, or loss itcauses

others.

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4.Paying the price of its use Dry, itchy skin and skin infections Constricted pupils and reduced night

vision Nausea and vomiting (following early use

or high doses)

Constipation and loss of appetite

Menstrual irregularity

Reduced sex drive

Scarring ("tracks") along veins and

collapsed veins from

repeated injections

Irregular blood pressure

Slow and irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)

Fatigue, breathlessness, and labored,

noisy breathing due toexcessive fluid in the lungs ("the rattles")

Injuries that result from engaging in anyactivity (such as

working, driving, or operating machinery)when incapacitated

by heroin use

Dependence, addiction

Hepatitis, AIDS, and other infections

from unsanitary

injection

Stroke or heart attack caused by blood

clots resulting from

insoluble additives

Respiratory paralysis, heart arrest, coma,

and death from

accidental overdose

5. Can Heroin Addicts Recover?Yes, they can. Treatment takes various forms, and detoxification may be needed, by some, tomanage the effects of withdrawal. The main thrust of treatment, however, addresses underlying

causes of drug abuse and helps recovering abusers become more self-aware, self-reliant,

responsible, and able to manage stress without the "crutch" of drugs.

DRUG EDUCATIONDrug education is the planned provision of information and skills relevant to living in a worldwhere drugs are commonly misused. Planning includes developing strategies for helping

children and young people engage with relevant drug-related issues during opportunistic and

brief contacts with them as well as during more structured sessions. Drug education enables

children and young adults to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to appreciate thebenefits of a healthy lifestyle, promote responsibility towards the use of drugs and relate these

to their own actions and those of others, both now and in their future lives. It also provides

opportunities for young people to reflect on their own and others' attitudes to drugs, drug usage

and drug users.

Drug education can be given in numerous forms, some more effective than others. Examplesinclude advertising and awareness raising campaigns such as the UK Governments FRANK

campaign. In addition there are school based drug education programs like DARE or that

currently being evaluated by the UK Blueprint Programme.

Drug education can also take less explicit forms; an example of this is the Positive Futures

Programme, funded by the UK government as part of its drug strategy. This programme uses

sport and the arts as catalysts to engage young people on their own turf, putting them in contact

with positive role models (coaches/trained youth workers). After building a trusting relationship

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with a young person, these role models can gradually change attitudes towards drug use and

steer the young person back into education, training and employment. This approach reaches

young people who have dropped out of mainstream education. It also has additional benefits for

the community in reduced crime and anti-social behaviour.

DRUGS AND THE LAWThe most important drugs laws in the UK are the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, the Misuse of

Drugs regulations made under the Act (1985), and the Medicines Act 1968. The Misuse of

Drugs Act divides controlled drugs into three categories, classified according to their perceived

degree of harmfulness or danger to the individual and society, with penalties varying

accordingly. These categories are:

Class A - includes opium, morphine, heroin, methadone, dextromoramide,

methylamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy, and LSD. Class B drugs such as speed prepared forinjection are also included.

Class B - includes codeine, amphetamine,cannabis, barbiturates and dihydrocodeine.

Class C - includes mainly prescribed drugs such as tranquillisers, Ketamine and GHB.

The Act gives the police powers to stop and search persons, vehicles or vessels; to obtain

search warrants to search properties; to seize anything which appears to be evidence of an

offence; and to arrest persons suspected of having committed an offence under the Act.

The most common offence is possession of a controlled drug. This includes joint possession of

a common pool of drugs and past possession, when past drug use is admitted. There is no

offence if you are found in possession of a drug that you didn't know was on your person (e.g. a

friend put it in your pocket) but you might have to prove this later in court. By law, the police

have to prove that you knew that you had the drugs on you.

More serious offences are supply and intent to supply. It's important to remember that supply

can also include selling or even giving drugs to a friend. If you are caught with drugs, sayingthat some are for a friend makes matter worse as you could also be convicted for supply.

Cultivation of cannabis is also an offence with more severe penalties if there is intent to supply.

The heaviest penalties under the law are for importing and exporting drugs.

DEALING WITH A DRUG OFFENDER

Anyone who commits an offence against the Misuse of Drugs Act can be dealt with in anumber of ways.

For minor offences (such as the possession of a small amount of cannabis for personal

consumption), how you will be treated varies from area to area.

Some police forces always prosecute first time offenders with small amounts of drugs, whileothers are far more lenient, offering only a caution. This is a formal acknowledgement that theperson has committed an offence and acts as a warning regarding future behaviour. A caution

doesn't count as a conviction, but may be brought up in future court proceedings. Details may

also be disclosed to future employers if the person applies for certain types of jobs.

If the person has already been cautioned for a similar offence they may have to appear before aMagistrates' Court and face a fine, suspended or short prison sentence.

For the more serious offences of supplying, possessing with intent to supply or illegally

bringing drugs into the country, the person would usually face a trial before a judge and jury at

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a higher criminal court or Crown Court.

Penalties for drug related crimes change according to the defendant's circumstances and record,

but as a guide, these are the maximum penalties:

Class A: The maximum for possession is 7 years imprisonment with an unlimited fine, and forsupply, life imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

Class B: The maximum for possession is 5 years or a fine or both, and for supply, 14 years'imprisonment or a fine or both.

1.The Medicines ActSome of the drugs used on the dance scene are covered by the above act. It is not illegal to

possess various drugs such as Ketamine and Amyl Nitrate, but any unauthorised manufacture

and distribution of these substances are possibly offences.

2.Drugs and DrivingUnder the Road Traffic Act it is an offence to be in charge of a motor vehicle when unfit

through drugs. If found guilty there's an obligatory 12 month's disqualification and a fine. If

you are involved in an incident whilst under the influence, stiffer penalties will apply (you are

classed as being in charge of a vehicle even if you're crashed out in the back seat snoozing).

DRUGS AND ROMANTIC

LITERATURE

The Romantics' furtive flirtation with opium around the close of the eighteenth century was a

period when drugs and inspiration seemed to go together.

Opium was ethically neutral; it was just another medicine with unexpected side effects. Thedrug is mentioned not only famously by Shakespeare in Othello - "Not poppy nor mandragora /

Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world / Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep / Which

thou owedst yesterday" - but also by Chaucer, Sir Thomas Browne, and Robert Burton.

Moreover, in her book, Opium and the Romantic Imagination, where he explains the antiquity

of opium as a painkiller and soporific, Althea Hayter quotes a slightly dotty Doctor John Jones

who published a book in 1700 called The Mysteries of Opium Reveal'd in which he claimed it

could cure or relieve: "gout, dropsy, catarrh, ague, asthma, fevers of all kinds, travel sickness,

stone, colic, measles, rheumatism, and even plague, as well as psychological troubles like

hypochondria and insomnia. He listed the different preparations of opium then in use: Venice

Treacle, Mithridate, Sydenham Laudanum, Dr. Bate's Pacific Pill, London Laudanum, and so

on".

In other words, two centuries ago, opium was generally available as a cure for everything. Itwas like aspirin; every household had some, usually in the form of laudanum - that is, mixed

with alcohol - and used it as an analgesic for aches and pains, for hangovers, toothache, and

hysteria. Shelley drank laudanum to calm his nervous headaches, Keats used it as a painkiller,

Byron took an opium-based concoction called Kendal Black Drop as a tranquilizer; even Jane

Austen's sedate mother prescribed it for travel sickness. Wordsworth - not surprisingly - seems

to have been the only major English Romantic poet never to have touched the stuff.

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RENTON: Who needs reasons

when you have heroin?

Drug films are films that depict drug usage, either as a major theme or as a few memorablescenes. Drug cinema ranges from the ultra-realistic to the utterly surreal; some movies are

unabashedly pro- or anti-drug, while others are less judgmental. The drugs most commonly

shown in films are alcohol, cocaine, heroin, LSD, cannabis and methamphetamine.

British cinema has a structured approach to substance abuse,linking this practice with the

collapse of education, family disintegration and the demise of English industrial cities in the

last 20 years.

Looking not so far back, examples of movies which displayed a miserabilist approach to drug

use come to mind. We can of course mention "Nil by Mouth"(1997) or even "Rise of the

Footsoldier"(2007), but I'm more prone to think of "Trainspotting" as example of the same

ethos when it comes to urban-suburban (self) destructive lifestyles.

A movie like Trainspotting has a, lets say, sophisticated approach to drug use.Its' realistic

style, use of language and unflinching portrayal of drug use was what first attracted me to look

at it a bit closer. Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, it tells the story of a group of working

class unemployed drug addicts, focusing on their problems with drug abuse, inability to get ajob and family problems. Set in Edinburgh in the early nineties, Danny Boyle's (director) style

is undoubtedly extremely realistic, fairly disgusting and at times, shocking.

By dealing with heroin, "Trainspotting" encompasses the mentality of the acid culture - drugs-

for-fun, hedonism and deliberate youthful rebellion. The links between heroin abuse and the

club scene are made more obvious when Renton (Ewan McGregor) visits a London nightspot.

Surrounded by thumping house music and anxiously dancing punters, he finds empathy: "In athousand years there'll be no girls and no guys, just wankers," a thought he finds rather

appealing.

"Trainspotting" takes a pragmatic approach to drug use, capturing the exhausting, intensely

uncomfortable daily routine of a group of heroin addicts (Mark Renton, Simon "Sick Boy"

Williamson, Daniel "Spud" Murphy, Francis "Franco" Begbie, Davie Mitchell, Tommy

Laurence). They stay together because of this common goal and it is not an attractive sight.Nonetheless, Boyle combines the macabre with the comical, and blurs the boundaries between

realism and fantasy - notably in the scene where Mark Renton (the protagonist), to retrieve a

lost suppository, plunges through the 'worst toilet in Scotland' and into a deep blue abyss. The

final Act has the film trying to form a drug-selling plot which ends the friendship between the

clique and has Renton choosing to stay off drugs and lead a normal life.

Contrary to popular opinion, I would hardly classify "Trainspotting" as an "anti-drug film".In

"Trainspotting", there are new characteristics attempted for the first time, one of which being

showing the good side to heroin as well as the bad.

On the one hand,"Trainspotting" shows heroin as an escape for the protagonists - both fromthe responsibilities of life and from the restricting paths society has mapped out for

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them.Trainspotting does not glamorise drug abuse, but still manages to force us to look at the

reasons behind it.In the first opening speech, Renton says the famous: "Choose life. Choose a

job. Choose a career. Choose a family[...]Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I

want to do a thing like that?", which is so utterly satirical that it becomes amazing. Renton's

narration confirms his hatred of the mundane existence Britain offers and the film's power liesin its ability to make us question the values we have been taught to hold dear - materialism,

career, marriage, children.

"Trainspotting" shows the pro-sides of being on drugs. The forgetfullness of life. The pleasure.

Then it turns right on the other hand and shows all the billions of down-sides. Firstly, life`srules imply responsibility, which people cannot avoid by consuming drugs - represantative, in

this way, is the scene when the heroin addicted women wakes up finding her baby dead from

her not caring for it. Secondly, heroin highly increases the risk of getting AIDS, which happens

to Tommy, the only character who picks up the habit later on and dies in a tragic way, thusbeing emphasized the ironic touch of the film. Another negative effect of the drugs is its impact

on relationships - the friendship between the characters, based on the common heroin use, is

finally destroyed by the same drug.

Regarding its title (trainspotting = a hobby that consists of collecting the numbers of railroadlocomotives), "Trainspotting" is a reference to an episode where Begbie and Renton meet "an

auld drunkard" in the disused Leith Central railway station, which they are visiting to use as a

toilet. He asks them if they are "trainspottin", as Renton is urinating onto the stonework. Trains

have not run to Leith since 1952. As they walk away from the drunk, Renton realises the drunk

is Begbie's father.

Highlight in the history of British cinema, "Trainspotting" is a "depiction of the squalid

depravities and exploitative self interest that characterises the everyday life of heroin addiction"

and, at the same time, shows how subjective experiences, enhanced by drugs, can be a valuablesource of humour.

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CONCLUSION

The initial focus of my paper was on the multitude of negative effects of drugs, but in

my personal contribution I wrote about the positive impact they had on art (Romantic literatureand cinema).

It is clear that the use of illegal drugs in the UK has grown exponentially since1960. Illicit drugs are predominantly consumed by teenagers and young adults, reason

for which prevention programmes are oriented towards younger population in order to

postpone as much as possible the start of consumption.It is also clear that the greatest growth in drug use has followed, rather than led,

the legal prohibitions. Surely, this fact alone makes the general argument that outright

prohibition has not worked in the UK and encourages the search for alternative meansof overcoming the misuse of drug problems.

One alternative way is, as I previously mentioned, Drug Education -

programmes which provide for easy, clean access to drug treatments and do not insist

upon abstinence. Another way is giving free heroin looks too radical. For more than

two decades, UK heroin addicts have been able to obtain medical treatment with a non-opiate drug, methadone. But as the UK government has prohibited this drug too, many

individuals lives were destroyed.Regarding the link between drugs and art, when speaking of literature, it consist

of the inspiration opium gave to the Romantic writers in a period when it was

considered unharmful, was just another medicine with unexpected side effects. When itcomes to the cinema, drugs inspired British thematic films, which display various approaches to

drug use and many of which became highlights in the history of the British cinema.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Petrie, D. Contemporary Scottish Fictions: Film Television and the Novel. Edinburgh

University Press; Edinburgh: 2004.

Street, S. British National Cinema. Routledge; London: 1997 Hayter, Althea. Opium and the Romantic Imagination. London: Faber, 1968.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drug_films

http://www.acde.org/health/Research.htm

http://www.talktofrank.com/drugs.aspx?id=172

http://www.urban75.com/Drugs/druglaws.html

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drughttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drug_filmshttp://www.acde.org/health/Research.htmhttp://www.talktofrank.com/drugs.aspx?id=172http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drughttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drug_filmshttp://www.acde.org/health/Research.htmhttp://www.talktofrank.com/drugs.aspx?id=172


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Addendum

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a test a a a a a at

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