Stoke-on-Trent has fallen on harder times. And, seemingly inexplicably, it’s become the global capital of a potent drug known as “monkey dust”.
According to some politicians and media outlets, monkey dust turns users into super-strength “zombies” with the power to chew through plate glass windows and jump from tall buildings unscathed.
The cheap off-white powder, containing lab-made stimulants called cathinones, achieved new prominence in May when Jack Brereton, Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, managed to get the government to order an investigation into whether synthetic cathinones including monkey dust should be upgraded from a Class B drug to a Class A drug. This would put it alongside heroin and cocaine in Britain’s drug harm classification system.
Brereton informed fellow MPs that monkey dust was linked to “reports of face-eating in America”, where he claimed it was known as “cannibal dust”. A lot of this stuff is blatant nonsense.
Nevertheless, Brereton’s campaign led to a slew of headlines from news outlets such as newspapers the Daily Mail and the Sun, as well as the BBC and local Stoke media.
But VICE News has found that behind the lurid headlines and political PR, the reality of monkey dust in Stoke tells a very different story, and that the reason the drug has stuck like glue to this city is less about cannibals and zombies, and more about the way many parts of Britain are being slowly ground down by over a decade of stark economic neglect.
>According to some politicians and media outlets, monkey dust turns users into super-strength “zombies” with the power to chew through plate glass windows and jump from tall buildings unscathed.
Sounds like something from an episode of Brass Eye
why doesnt the “thc vape juice” epidemic ever get a mention? theres dealers up and down the country handing out coloured and flavoured bottles of dirt cheap research chemicals under the guise of it being “cannabis distillate” and people, especially teenagers are getting hooked on them. many have been proven to contain chemicals similair to “spice” which im sure the majority of people are aware of how deadly “spice” is at this point. alot of younger people are buying them because a gram of cannabis could be about 10 quid and will get finished in a day whereas “thc vape juice” costs about 20 quid a bottle and can last you a week or two.
if theres any stoners listening that know what im talking about please avoid any scum selling blue, red, orange multi coloured “thc juice”. i dont care how much you “trust your guy” avoid that shit and treat it the same as heroin, youve been warned and the risk is up to you now.
search reddit for stories of people that have got themselves hooked on that shite and how terrible the withdrawals are, it is NOT weed and i try my hardest to warn people about it but at the end of the day theres still lots of teens buying it and thinking theyre getting a great deal when in reality theyre now addicted to dangerous research chemicals.
I hear it affects the part of the brain known as Shatner’s Bassoon.
I can’t be the only one that thought that was just the name of a show
5 comments
**From reporter Max Daly:**
Stoke-on-Trent has fallen on harder times. And, seemingly inexplicably, it’s become the global capital of a potent drug known as “monkey dust”.
According to some politicians and media outlets, monkey dust turns users into super-strength “zombies” with the power to chew through plate glass windows and jump from tall buildings unscathed.
The cheap off-white powder, containing lab-made stimulants called cathinones, achieved new prominence in May when Jack Brereton, Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, managed to get the government to order an investigation into whether synthetic cathinones including monkey dust should be upgraded from a Class B drug to a Class A drug. This would put it alongside heroin and cocaine in Britain’s drug harm classification system.
Brereton informed fellow MPs that monkey dust was linked to “reports of face-eating in America”, where he claimed it was known as “cannibal dust”. A lot of this stuff is blatant nonsense.
Nevertheless, Brereton’s campaign led to a slew of headlines from news outlets such as newspapers the Daily Mail and the Sun, as well as the BBC and local Stoke media.
But VICE News has found that behind the lurid headlines and political PR, the reality of monkey dust in Stoke tells a very different story, and that the reason the drug has stuck like glue to this city is less about cannibals and zombies, and more about the way many parts of Britain are being slowly ground down by over a decade of stark economic neglect.
Link to the full article: [https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgwwgz/monkey-dust-stoke](https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgwwgz/monkey-dust-stoke)
>According to some politicians and media outlets, monkey dust turns users into super-strength “zombies” with the power to chew through plate glass windows and jump from tall buildings unscathed.
Sounds like something from an episode of Brass Eye
why doesnt the “thc vape juice” epidemic ever get a mention? theres dealers up and down the country handing out coloured and flavoured bottles of dirt cheap research chemicals under the guise of it being “cannabis distillate” and people, especially teenagers are getting hooked on them. many have been proven to contain chemicals similair to “spice” which im sure the majority of people are aware of how deadly “spice” is at this point. alot of younger people are buying them because a gram of cannabis could be about 10 quid and will get finished in a day whereas “thc vape juice” costs about 20 quid a bottle and can last you a week or two.
if theres any stoners listening that know what im talking about please avoid any scum selling blue, red, orange multi coloured “thc juice”. i dont care how much you “trust your guy” avoid that shit and treat it the same as heroin, youve been warned and the risk is up to you now.
search reddit for stories of people that have got themselves hooked on that shite and how terrible the withdrawals are, it is NOT weed and i try my hardest to warn people about it but at the end of the day theres still lots of teens buying it and thinking theyre getting a great deal when in reality theyre now addicted to dangerous research chemicals.
I hear it affects the part of the brain known as Shatner’s Bassoon.
I can’t be the only one that thought that was just the name of a show