Notes • The article is written with a young, liberal readership in mind. Publications that could be appropriate include: The Huffington Post, The Washington Post and the independent Leeds based organisation Frontline Presents. The Tab could also be suitable but this would mean a change in the language used to describe the initial study, as it was their study. • The content might also be used as an example piece for a concept magazine. The concept for the magazine is an independent printed free magazine, similar to the first UK editions of Vice released in 2002. The editorial tone would be in between Vice and Monster Children (Australia) and the focus would be news (from a differing angle to popular media), music, arts, food and sports. The pilot issue would be released in Leeds, local advertisers would cover the costs and the issue would be handed out to prospective readers on the street. • Vice sold stakes in the company to Disney and Fox (owned by Rupert Murdoch) in 2013/14, though allegedly retaining complete creative control this has still disillusioned many of Vice’s regular readers and stockists, as such the printed version of the magazine is becoming harder to obtain. This has produced a small gap in the market for a similar magazine, but with less hypocrisy. • The inclusion of Monster Children as an inspiring editorial tone was brought about by the discovery that there is nothing like this currently in the UK, which identifies a gap. • The plan for the article to develop from here is to examine the prohibition of drugs and determine whether the UK principles around this area are effective in tackling the problem, or whether they are partly responsible for the increasingly large economic value of the illegal drugs trade, letting dangerous criminals make huge amounts of money and also the ease at which anybody, from minors to vulnerable adults can purchase completely unregulated dangerous substances. • Quotes from some of the individuals surveyed might be added to further strengthen current copy. • Pull Quotes and a Box Out are also planned, layout is a first draft. • The Drop Cap traditionally begins the main body of the copy, It is a design idea to have it beginning the Stand First instead. References (article) The Tab (n.d.) Everyone Reads It [Online]. Available from <http://thetab.com/about-us> Accessed [14th October 2015]. The Tab (20th May 2013) Revealed: Who does the most drugs? [Online]. Available from http://thetab.com/uk/ cambridge/2013/05/20/revealed-who-does-the-most-drugs-23071>Accessed [15th October 2015]. 10% of UK graduates educated in Leeds (n.d.) Available from:<http://www.leeds-city-guide.com/Body> Accessed [1st November 2015]. Images 1st Page Image (Oct 2015) Authors own image. 2nd Page Image (n.d.) [Online]. Available from:< http://previews.123rf.com/images/photosiber/photosiber1211/ photosiber121100034/16493525> References to evidence the suitability of organisations mentioned above http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/10/ireland-accidentally-legalized-a-bunch-of-drugs-but-onlyuntil-thursday/ https://frontlinepresentstheblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/23/wacky-races-2/ http://thetab.com/about-us Sources of inspiration for concept magazine and editorial tone Vice: <http://www.vice.com/en_uk> Monster Children:< http://www.monsterchildren.com>
Leeds students sustain UK’s largest black market for drugs
F
rom September until Christmas anyone with access to the black market and a little cash for a kick-start, can make enough money selling drugs to students in Leeds to not have to work for the rest of the year.
For most of the
students and young on it but as I looked the man who had
people living in Leeds today it has become handed me it assured me “it’s not for PCs the norm to be regularly approached by though yeah?” The information so far individuals, either working for these illicit was gathered from other students and the vendors or by dealers themselves. They people giving out phone numbers, who offer cards, pens and even lighters with were more than willing to chat about their their business name and number on and illegal affairs in most cases. rarely anything else. They then either recite a list of psychoactive substances you can Wondering why this market seemed to purchase through them, or say nothing as be proportionally bigger than in other though you’re already supposed to know cities, or at least a lot more indiscreet, I The above photograph shows an example of some of the cards I acquired, from the people I felt looked the least dodgy and likely to not mind a chat. They are, however, just a few in terms of how many were offered in just over two weeks.
the nature of their business. What’s more took to the Internet for some much-loved the actual ordering comes with 24/7 free research. I found articles mostly about delivery, so I guess you’d need to be able students taking drugs, one about a young to drive too, to really compete.
business student caught my eye. He’d finished university but stayed in Leeds to
After a while of noticing this I began develop what became an allegedly huge taking whatever was supplied with the drug ring, before the police caught him. details and talking to the people handing The large market could then have formed them out. The last card I accepted was due to other students taking a similar path. called PC Doc, it had pictures of tech 10% of all UK graduates were educated in Leeds, a good deal of graduates each year stay in Leeds too and with the current employment market in a dip it wouldn’t be surprising if part of the reason for the expanding drugs market in Leeds was the unemployment crisis.
An unidentified white powder pictured in a young student’s pencil case shows visually how serious the situation has became.
A more thorough search led to an article by The Tab, a student I conducted this research in the Hyde Park and Headingley areas news site specializing in the coverage of “news students care of Leeds because these areas have a large student and young about, in a style they actually want to read.” The article from person population. I made special effort to ask an equal ratio 2013 refers to a nationwide study conducted by The Tab to of women to men to keep the results as unbiased and accurate produce statistics on substance abuse in student populations. The as possible. For really precise results a much larger sample of findings are outlined under the headline “Revealed: Who does people would be needed, but as a starting point the results do the most drugs?” With Leeds taking 1st place and Manchester confirm that a large majority of young people (92.86%) have closely following.
been targeted by drug dealers at least once. 92.31% of these have noticed an increase in the frequency this is happening in
The question then: has this news influenced the seemingly the past few years. It does seem likely then that the publication saturated market we experience today? To answer this more of The Tab’s study is in part the cause of the significant market information needed to be sourced from young people living growth of the illegal drugs trade in Leeds in the past three years. in Leeds since before the publication of this news. This was an easy task to complete since 18-25 year olds and students make The results then also raise questions about the ethical up over half of the population of Leeds. I started by targeting responsibilities of journalists regarding the effects on society this group and recording their answers to a series of anonymous certain published work can have, an example of the ever questions, the results are featured in the table below.
prominent dilemma journalists face; deciding whether it is still important to keep people informed when this action can produce an adverse reaction.
This table shows data collected from 14 individuals in Headingley and Hyde Park on Saturday the 7th of November 2015