Pubdate: Sat, 02 Mar 2002
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author: Sarah Hall, The Guardian
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n370/a06.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?135 (Drug Education)

DRUG VICTIM'S PARENTS DEFEND DEATH IMAGES

Experts Divided On Whether Shock Tactics Will Deter Young People

The parents of a 21-year-old university dropout who died of a heroin 
overdose last night justified their decision to release graphic photographs 
of her blackened corpse as part of an educational video.

Pauline Holcroft, the mother of Rachel Whitear, a one-time psychology and 
sociology student, who was pictured still clutching the syringe used for 
her fatal fix, said: "We realised when we agreed to release them they would 
be distasteful to some people but we felt they were a very important part 
of the film."

She and her husband Mick, Ms Whitear's stepfather, added that they had been 
taken aback by the media frenzy surrounding the photographs, and that they 
should be seen in the context of the 22-minute film, which charts the 
effect her descent into addiction had on her middle-class family.

"They were a very small part of the story," said Mr Holcroft, of Ledbury, 
Herefordshire. "People need to see the whole video. To us these photographs 
are not that shocking."

Mrs Holcroft added: "I think we are focusing too much on one small part. 
The exposure of these photographs is an important part of the film, but 
it's only one part and others are equally important." Poems written by Ms 
Whitear as she fought unsuccessfully to over come her addiction were more 
emotive.

"The feedback we have got from parents is excellent. Practically 100% of 
children said it would make them think they couldn't do this to their 
families," Mrs Holcroft said.

As the graphic images were displayed on news stands yesterday, opinion was 
divided on whether such shock tactics would work, with some drugs 
specialists warning that such images would have little effect on drugs 
deaths, which have almost doubled from 864 in 1993 to 1,662 in 2000.

But Paul Betts, who first employed the tactic by releasing a picture of his 
daughter Leah, lying in intensive care after taking ecstasy, said there was 
no question that such stark images shocked young people from their 
complacent belief that they were impervious to the fatal effect of drugs.

"Our release of the picture of Leah and the video we made afterwards has 
been hailed by young people as the best drugs awareness information package 
they have seen," he said yesterday. "I've been to over 3,200 schools, 
spoken to 2.3m young people and 500,000 parents and I've had over half a 
million letters from young people who say that, after having heard me, 
they're packing up taking drugs.

"While shock tactics won't work for everybody they will work for some and 
what we must never forget is that if you just save one person's life, it's 
been worthwhile."

The former Met police officer added that he did not regret "for a moment" 
releasing Leah's picture after she collapsed after taking the drug on her 
18th birthday in 1995.

There was agreement from Rosie Brocklehurst, of Addaction, the national 
drug treatment charity, who insisted: "These pictures do have an effect, 
because they make people sit up and listen."

Lynn Clare, project manager of the support group Parents Against Drug 
Abuse, said: "It has certainly caused a lot of interest here: our phones 
have been inundated since early morning. A lot of the time parents will 
know something's wrong and not be sure, and this sort of publicity prompts 
them to seek help."

Yet she admitted the images themselves - as opposed to the video - would 
probably have little effect on their target market: secondary school pupils.

"It probably won't have any more of an effect on children because they 
don't equate themselves with this and they tend to think they are fairly 
indestructible. When the Leah Betts picture was shown, it caused a lot of 
interest but it didn't stop people taking ecstasy," she said.

Herefordshire local education authority - which has produced the video 
which charts Ms Whitear's descent to a lonely death in a flat in Exmouth, 
Devon - says that students who had seen it had been affected because it 
"challenges the stereotypical image of a drug user".

But the drugs charity, DrugScope, yesterday insisted that, while the 
Holcrofts' decision was "understandable and very admirable", there was 
little evidence that such shock tactics change behaviour.

Statistics from the national crime survey suggest that the number of 
ecstasy users rose from 9% of 16-29-year-olds in 1996, the year after Leah 
Bett's death, to 12% in 2000, the last available figure, while heroin use 
doubled to 2%.

DrugScope's chief executive, Roger Howard, said: "We hope the image will 
succeed in changing government policy and encouraging more investment in 
treatment and harm reduction initiatives."
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