“Sitting in a drug counseling center’s waiting room (in Manchester, England), Elizabeth Forrest giggles as she scans a comic book explaining ‘how to roll a perfect joint’ in nine easy steps. … ‘This is hilarious,’ the 25-year-old heroin addict says, pointing to a cartoon warning that smoking too much marijuana can be fattening. The sketch shows an overweight man eating from a dog-food bowl as his pet barks in disapproval.”

The Journal continues, “Britain’s Lifeline publishes guides that aim to help drug users cope with, rather than kick, their addictions. But antidrug groups in the UK say the booklets promote drug abuse and they want to stop the nonprofit group’s government funding cold turkey.”

The Journal adds, “The comic book, ‘Everything You Wanted to Know about Cannabis, An Insider’s Guide,’ is one of dozens published by Lifeline, a nonprofit drug-counseling group in the United Kingdom, that give tips on how to smoke pot or drop acid and still look and feel good. ‘How to Survive Your Parents Discovering You’re a Drug User’ counsels teens not to stash pot in coat pockets since that’s the first place parents will look. A Lifeline’s guide to cocaine warns against snorting off the groove of an old vinyl LP record because ‘it is somewhat wasteful.’”

The Journal notes, “The comics have fans throughout Europe and a cult following in prisons, where they are traded like baseball cards. Now they are also at the center of a growing controversy, after revelations that Lifeline gets £4 million ($6.3 million or €6.2 million) a year in funding from the British government. …The books ‘try and be cool and radical but all they are doing is offering “how to” tips masquerading as health advice,’ says Peter Stoker, director of Britain’s National Drug Prevention Alliance.”

Source: Northwest Center for Health & Safety

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