Letter

Know your law

Dear healthmatters—Gary McCulloch’s review of Drugs and the law in issue 23 seems to be hung up on what this video isn’t, instead of what it clearly is. It’s not trying to be a slice-of-life docudrama on how drugs advisors operate, or to cover everything you need to know about drugs. It’s a straightforward account of something that mystifies many young people-what getting into trouble with the law over drugs can mean.

Despite your reviewer’s scepticism, it is based on extensive research, including talking to ‘real teenagers’, and test-screening showed that most teenagers (and adults) are surprisingly ignorant of actual legal and police practice.

This may explain why a concise fact-based approach seems to work well as a trigger for discussion. The message is simple: this is how the law currently stands, and you’ve got to make your own decisions. There are many good videos that deal with different aspects of living in a drug-using culture, but this one tries to fill a perceived gap in provision. I’m sorry Gary McCulloch seems to have missed the point.