Meow Meow: Rebecca Cardwell Was Killed By Government’s Failed Drugs Policy And Greed
MEOW Meow: Yesterday we told you that Rebecca Cardwell, 19, died after a taking a combination of four drugs she and four friends bough in a £25 wrap. At Burnley magistrates’ court Pathologist Dr Abdul Al-Dawoud says the mephedrone in her system was more than “three times the normal level for recreational use”.
The papers all fully agree that meow meow killed Rebecca Cardwell. It was not the other three drugs nor the combined effects of all four that killed her. It was meow meow, that headline–making drug the outgoing Labour government hastily banned in a bid to look tough.
No-one died from mephedrone before the ban. When it was legal it could be bought over the counter. The punters knew it was toxic but knew what toxins they were buying. On its own, meow meow has not killed anyone. Now, you buy it and take your chances.
The powders Miss Cardwell took contained mephedrone, benzylapiperazine (BZP), trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP) and amphetamines. The coroner says the cause of death as the toxic effect of all four substances.
Still, the tabloids are in agreement. The Lancashire Telegraph billed it as the country’s first meow meow death, so it must be true:
Says the Mirror’s Jim Disley:
Student Rebecca Cardwell, 19, is also the first to be killed by the drug – real name mephedrone – since it was banned in April
But no-one was killed by the drugs before the ban.
The ‘Daily Mail Reporter’ puts it:
Teenager, 19, is youngest ever to die from designer drug meow meow
When Rebecca Cardwell handed over £5 for her share of party drug meow meow, she effectively signed her own death warrant.
The Daily Express‘ Chris Riches says:
MEPHEDRONE PARTY DRUG KILLS GIRL OF 19 WHO BOUGHT IT FOR £5
All mainstream media in agreement, then.
But what killed Miss Rebecca Cardwell was not meow meow but a failed drugs policy that seeks to ban before understanding. The greedy drugs dealers are the only winners. They are the only source of the drug and can do to it what they like.
The youth will always look for a way to get off their faces. And the Government will fail to protect them…
Posted: 14th, October 2010 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
