Presented by Esther Rantzen and Nick Ross
I don think I'm going to reach 21 at the moment. I've taken several overdoses just through feeling totally hopeless.
I just feel it's such a waste of a good life -he didn't deserve to end his life like that.
With the help of the largest survey into drug abuse in Britain; reports from home and abroad; a study of addicts, ex-addicts, users, their families and professionals; the reactions and response of the Government's 'Mini-
Cabinet' -Drugwatch asks what can, or should be, done about the present drugs crisis.
Two thousand users and families have written to
Drugwatch frankly and fully of their experience. Users started young-two-thirds of the survey began taking drugs before the age of 16-and the younger they started, the more likely they were to end up in serious trouble. But the good news of the survey is that over half the heroin addicts had kicked their habit, though practically all said it had changed their lives drastically.
Drugwatch tells how people start, how they get hooked and how some get off. But most important, it asks how can the tragedies and the waste be prevented. The message of the survey is clear: friends, not pushers, are at the core of Britain's drug problem. They are why and how people start. The hope for the future is that children can be taught to resist those pressures and have the choice to 'JUST SAY
NO'.
Studio director PIETER MORPURGO Producer RITCHIE COGAN
The address for further information is: 'Drugwatch,' BBCtv, London W128QT * FEATURE page 12