By James Simons And Eric King-
The evil of crack addiction in Essex is shocking. We spent an evening at a crack den in Southend on sea with some interesting people. They hold conversations like anybody does, and are even hospitable enough to offer tea and a few biscuits. They are friendly, but also driven by a periodic quest for crack and heroin.
Their appetite for it this dangerous and addictive substance, never diminishes throughout the day. ”One light and one dark”, is the code used to order their daily buzz, which they finance through all sorts of means.
Mistrust and partnership exist together in a lifestyle where the latter is deemed more important than the former. A few notorious thieves exist among them, and whilst nobody is immune from being a victim of their theft, their common purpose unites them more than the mistrust that temporarily divides them.
Where is my phone, One of the girl asks? After, a few searches, the phone turned up in the bag of one of the lads there. What’s it doing in your bag, the girl asks, The boy said he took it by accident thinking it was it was his phone. The joke is that 5 other phones were seen in his bag.
The lady said he had done this before, and openly called him a thief. It did not stop the pair from smoking their crack through a pipe together after that. Some stay in the sitting room to smoke it, others go to the bathroom to enjoy their kick. It was not long before someone claimed that one of their crack balls was missing. Who stole it? As an argument raged over the missing crack ball, fingers were pointed around, and questions asked about the missing pipe.
Without any admissions, it was impossible to determine who the crack thief was. Fortunately, we were not suspects, as we had merely been welcome observers watching television and sipping tea at the same time. And to be helpful guests, we offered join in the search for the destructive drug which had disappeared. A few voices were raised at the same time, and it was not long before a table filled with empty bottles and , tobacco packets, and crack pipes, was thrown to the floor in anger by Tony, who resides in the place. ”I’ve had enough of all this noise, and arguments, he said. Someone immediately volunteered to sweep up the mess and broken glass on the floor.
Our initial deal with a few of the full time smokers to take pictures was off earlier in the week, after others made it clear this was not on. Though one of the smokers in his high state consented without a care in the world. It was barely ten minutes when another crack smoker came through the door with more crack, or ‘food’ as they call it. It was sufficient to keep their party going, and some blended it with alcohol.
Tony, who owns the apartment where two of the smokers live is a part time smoker himself. He told the eye of media.com
” this is a daily thing in here, it is constant, sometimes through to the early hours of the morning. That thing is evil, when people are dependent on it. I take it once in a while, but i tell you what, I a’int dependent on it”, he says. I can switch off when I want. Some of these guys are still making orders all the way till 3 in the morning”.
Ten minutes later, a man knocks on the door and says he gave someone £50 to get him some gear, but the guy did not return. He believes the man came into this building, which has six flats in it. He is recognized as Ben, the same guy from last week who had robbed one of the girls of her mobile phone and £10 and was surprised to meet him at this same address. He is told at the door that whoever took his £50 did not come into that flat, and then told to leave. One of the girls in the flat shouts at ”karma has got you, you bxxxxxd.”
Asked if she doesn’t fear the dangers of entering the car of a stranger for sex ” she replies, ”i am fearless. I’ve been robbed and raped before on the job. I have had men stick a knife to me and insist on sex without paying a penny. Some have taken all I worked for that evening. Others have paid for sex and then demanded their money back after. Business is smooth most of the time and this doesn’t happen, but even when it happens. you dust yourself and move on”, she said. Reporting to the police is not an option because you know what you are doing is not legal”.
The girl’s leave, but not before one of them begs the home owner for £15 to buy one more crack before she goes out on her evening whore job. ”I’ll pay you back tomorrow, I promise”. He gives in after throwing a few tantrums about all he is owed that day. He has spent £140 altogether and lent out £75, yet this man is on sick benefits and disability allowance. It is clear to see that this bunch have not the mindset for work, for their lives revolves around the continuous chase for a drug they know is destroying their minds and body, and will eventually kill them.
It’s getting late and now almost 11 pm. We have a long drive to make, and need to start making our way. The addicts tell us they can’t overcome their addiction because they feel ill once they don’t have their fix. ”It is really addictive”, one punter states.” I can sometimes control the crack, but not the brown”.
Our plan as time goes on is to conduct an experiment and see how long we can distract them from this craving, with a more productive engagement like exploring or discovering their deep talents or , taking them through a CV. Let’s make no mistake, there are some among these with full time jobs, though the majority seem incapable of holding a job. For those with jobs, crack cocaine is a choice they make. They make their dealers very happy and they run back and forth , calling them at all hours of the day to supply their habit, and invariably enrich the dealers more. Our interest is not on the dealership side of things, but on the addictive side.
Many crack heads are not employable and simply are hopeless in the absence of intervention. Some are hard workers in the day, and avid crack heads at night. The fate of some of this bunch of losers is irreversible, except for those not fully under the bondage of crack cocaine or heroin.