The War On Drugs: Leah Betts Campaign.

When I was growing up, particularly through primary and secondary school, I remember being told about the drug ecstasy, and how awful and dangerous it was. Back then it was commonly called 'X' in my school, which actually gave the drug an even more chilling persona. I can clearly recall my initial judgement being that ecstasy commonly killed people, especially first time users, and that it was insanely dangerous and should be avoided at all measures.

Partly for this reason was a particular case of Leah Betts, who was an eighteen year old girl from Essex. Leah had been at home with her friends, shortly after her eighteenth birthday in November 1995, and had taken an ecstasy (MDMA) pill. Within ninety minutes after swallowing the pill, Leah drank twelve pints of water. The excessive amount of water consumption caused her to suffer from water intoxication and hyponatremia, which resulted in swelling and damage of her brain and as a result, left Leah in a coma that she eventually died from. It is also stated that the consumption of the MDMA may have left Leah in a position in which she may not have been able to urinate, causing an even more damaging case of hyponatremia, but that if the ingestion of such an excessive amount of water was not present she would not have fell into the coma.

This is a very sad and distressing story that I happened to be researching about a few days ago. But what caught my attention, and subsequently led to this blog post, is this additional piece of information:

Following from Leah's death, there was a £1million pro-bono campaign carried out by three major advertising companies; Booth Lockett and Makin, Knight Leech and Delaney, and FFI. The campaign featured the production of a particular horrifying poster of Leah, with the caption "Sorted: Just One Ecstasy Tablet Took Leah Betts."

I have a vague memory of this campaign, and the reaction of the shocked nation. It seemed to effect people even more so than usual drug horror stories, as Leah seemed to be from a loving and 'normal' family. However, although it was not widely reported, Leah had actually taken ecstasy before and on at least three other separate occasions.

Also, one of Boothe Lockett and Makin's major clients happened to be a brewery, and around the time of Leah's death there were reports of alcohol industries blaming MDMA for a loss in profit and citing the ecstasy scene as high competition, due to a lot of interest in the rave scene of the nineties. The two other companies happened to represent the energy drink, 'Red Bull', in which Knight Leech and Delaney had earned over £5million and a member of FFI's group stated 'We do PR for Red Bull and it's very popular in a lot of clubs, as it is a substitute for taking ecstasy.'

A poster created by rock band Chumbawumba in retaliation to the iconic Leah Betts poster.

I find these particular areas of this case extremely interesting, as it suggests to me that Leah's death may have been used as propaganda towards steering people away from ecstasy use; not for fears of people's well-being and health, but as a business and profit movement. Leah's death was blamed on the consumption of one ecstasy pill, when in fact it had been an attributing factor of excessive water consumption that led to her coma, yet this was not as publicized.

MDMA has been scientifically proven again and again to be one of the most harmless drugs consumable. In a recent study in the UK, of eighty-one deaths where MDMA were present, only six people died from simple MDMA toxicity. Deaths associated with MDMA tend to be related to heatstroke and water intoxication, caused by excessive dancing or water consumption (as in the case with Leah) and not just the drug itself. It is proved to be less dangerous than most prescription drugs, yet there is a build up of fear and hatred towards the drug as if it is as terrifyingly dangerous as heroin or crack cocaine.

Unfortunately, because of this use of scare tactics towards ecstasy, and misinformation being given to people about the actual effects of the drug and how it can be safe to consume, the MDMA scene has now become dangerous. This, in my opinion, is due to a demand for a legal high that will imitate the effects of MDMA. Legal highs are a combination of chemicals that are yet to be tested, so can legally be obtained, and they are becoming increasingly more common. One example of a legal high that became popular was methadrone (AKA Meow Meow) which was proven to be extremely more dangerous than ecstasy, killing over sixty people over an extremely short period of time. 

With every kind of pleasure in life, it should be noted that consumption should be in moderation. Long term and frequent effects of MDMA can definitely cause depression, memory loss and brain cell damage. This can be said for most substances, including drugs that are given to people by the NHS. Of course, ecstasy can also be seen as a 'gateway' drug that could influence the consumption of harder, more dangerous substances. However, can we say that an attributing factor of that is when faced with an ecstasy experience after being told exaggerated stories of how dangerous it is, people may believe that due to the safe and happy experience they eventually went through, that they may experience that same safe and happy high through more dangerous and addictive drugs? If ecstasy is not as bad as once predicted, what's to say crack cocaine is as bad?

MDMA, if used correctly, can be used to help people with depression, family problems or problems with their relationships and confidence. With correct information, safe advice and the ability to control the manufaction and distribution of ecstasy, the dangerous legal high scene would die out and the public will be exposed to a safe and controlled drug environment. In terms of the war on drugs generally, I believe that the public are told too many exaggerated horror stories and are mislead information. This may deter the majority of the public from taking any drugs in the first place, but for the people who do end up experimenting, the lack of true information and safe guidance can be disastrous.