Drugs Map of Britain

BBC Three

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BBC Three HD

Documentaries

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

A landmark series exploring the drugs of choice in different parts of the UK.

Cutting through the headlines - the real world of users and dealers in the UK today. What are the drugs of choice across the nation, and what are they doing to local communities?

Series 1

Drugs Map of Britain: Series 1: Cocaine

Cocaine

BBC Three - Drugs Map of Britain, Series 1, Cocaine

A look at the impact of cocaine in London, where users say it’s been normalised.

This episode explores the impact of cocaine in London, where users say it’s been normalised.

In England and Wales, cocaine is the second most used drug for 16–24-year-olds, and a recent study found that Londoners snorted more cocaine than in any other European city. 

It’s Friday night, and dealer 'Dave' is preparing a £40,000 package of uncut cocaine for one of his high-end clients. He has been dealing cocaine for 20 years and says dealing has become harder and harder. For his less wealthy clients, 'Dave' mixes pure cocaine with a white powder he calls 'the magic,' 'because you’ll easily treble your money.' This contains various cutting agents. As his biker boy arrives to deliver the £40,000 package on his motorbike, 'Dave' takes another call from a customer. 

'Nadia' works for investment banks and hedge funds, and has been exposed to cocaine at work for her entire career. She started off taking it at work events, but at her peak use would take it before brushing her teeth. She is concerned about the quality of the product, as she has noticed a perforation inside her nose. She stopped for a week but is now still using regularly.

Cocaine Anonymous holds over 100 meetings a week in London and say their members are getting younger. On a Wednesday evening in a church hall in London, Ryan, in his 20s, tells us how he got introduced to cocaine at 16 years old and now wants to help other users. 'It’s supposed to be a rich man drug, but poor people are having it and they can’t pay their bills. It is normalized, and it’s wrong.'

In east London, Francesca Sniffs, a TikTok influencer, is getting ready for a night out with her friend to make content for her followers. She has accumulated nearly 25,000 followers on TikTok by rating toilets for their ‘sniffability’. She wants to represent the silly side of taking drugs and compares her drug content to teen dramas that show drug use. 'I’m just entertaining,' she says. 

Craig is on his way to a hospital appointment. Through years of excessive cocaine consumption, he has developed a two-inch hole inside his nose. Levamisole is a cutting agent that has been found in cocaine and that Craig’s doctor believes could have contributed to the perforation inside his nose. He has seen an increase in patients reporting with these sort of cocaine issues. 

We leave Craig wondering what the future holds for cocaine users in London. 'Dafne,' a hospitality worker who used to take cocaine six days a week, thinks that cocaine use has become so normalised that people are slipping into addiction... and are in denial about it.

Drugs Map of Britain: Series 1

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Drugs Map of Britain

Series 1

Cocaine

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