Lynette Nock’s death and a failed drugs policy
CAN LYNETTE Nock’s death be used to fit an agenda? Lynette Nock, 28, took Gamma-butyrolactane (GBL), a Class C “party drug”. Later she died.
The Metro says she allegedly took GBL during a wake in Birmingham for 24-year-old Carl Fearon.
Lynette Nock’s father tells media:
“If Lynette had GBL in her system, did she and the others at that party ingest it without knowing what they were taking?”
It’s all hideous for him and Lynette Nock’s loved ones. A young woman has died. And their private grief is being aired; their daughter questioned.
Mr Fearon is said to have also taken the drug. So too did two people who fell ill at the wake.
But we have no proof any of them wilfully took the substance. We do not know if it was GBL that killed.
Still, the Daily Mail reads the facts and creates the headline:
Young mother dies after taking GBL while mourning death of mechanic friend killed by same party drug
Was he?
Paul Bentley writes:
A young mother was killed by a party drug while marking the death hours earlier of a friend who had taken the same substance.
Fact.
We are then told that Mr Fearon and Ms Nock are “believed to have taken GBL”.
Not a fact, then.
The Mail recalls the name of Hester Stewart. The paper says the drug “claimed” her life. The corner ruled that Ms Stewart died from “misadventure”.
Consultant histopathologist Dr Andrew Rainey said the cause of death was GBL toxicity and the presence of ethanol. He said the fact the drug and alcohol had been combined caused her death.
GBL was not legal at the time of the young woman’s death. In December 2009, it was made illegal.
As for the two deaths, police are keeping an open mind. Both deaths are unexplained. Toxicology tests are being conducted.
We hear two views:
Emma Heath, was at the wake:
“I heard they put it in a Fanta bottle and several of them ended up being taken to hospital.”
Detective Inspector Andy Hawkins, of West Midlands Police, said:
“We believe that the controlled substance Gamma-Butyrolactone or GBL, the base solvent to a number of alloy wheel cleaners, super glue removers and paint strippers, may have been used as a drug at the gathering at the address in Northfield.”
The Daily Mirror also has news:
New party high peril: 50p “coma in a bottle” danger drug kills two friends
It’s not new. The drug was linked to the death ofhat have been linked to the death of Sarah O’Dowd, 24, “who drowned in her bath in October 2007”.
Well, so says the Mail. The Coroner noted that Mrs O’Dowd had also taken GBL, ketamine and had been a regular drugs taker. He recorded an open verdict.
He said:
“I cannot say with certainty that she died from the drugs which she had taken or whether she had intended to cause her own death… I can only think the combination of the drugs was probably the likely cause of her falling asleep and slipping under the water.”
What is clear is that taking chemicals is risky. And young people enjoy doing risky things and getting wasted.
Ms Stewart’s mother, Maryon Stewart, has campaigned against legal highs. She makes sense:
“They are not drugs, they are chemicals and when you take them you’re playing Russian Roulette with your life.But you can’t control something like paint stripper because it has legitimate uses. When you ban one of these things probably a dozen others pop up to replace it.”
Yes. She’s right.
The only sensible move would be to legalise all drugs so they can be better quality controlled. This would stop making criminals of the takers. It would mean you could ask questions freely and seek advice from someone armed of all the facts.
The allegation is that the GBL users took care to administer the correct dosage with a syringe. They are not ignorant. Some know the risks. But not everyone who took the drug might have.
Finally, the government needs to learn that banning things just makes the savvy youth look elsewhere for new way to get goofed…
Posted: 2nd, May 2012 | In: Reviews Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
