EALING BROADWAY, LONDON:

"Brenda" before her first marijuana 'hit'

Clubbers for Life, in association with Knowwhere, are proud to bring you the second in our series on how your lifestyle options may affect the way you club. In this edition, we examine "Brenda" a 27 year old from Barnes, London. "Brenda's" story is typical of many young people who start with recreational, so called "soft" drugs, and sadly find themselves eventually hooked.

Brenda began her drug career late last year, having been offered marijuana at a party by her friends. "I thought I'd just try it," she said. "A lot of my friends had been using it over the years, and I figured it wouldn't really do any harm. I just wish I knew then what I know now. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do looking back on it."

Experts consider Brenda's starting point to be a typical scenario- being offered drugs by her peer group in an attempt to "fit in."

"There is a lot of pressure put on young people to adopt the social norms and values of the wider group," said Ruth Hunter from the London based Centre for Christian Values. "And this is when they're at their most vulnerable." Continued Hunter: "But sadly, by trying to be 'cool' they conveniently overlook the long term health implications. Some of the well known and widely documented side effects of cannabis such as memory loss, lack of motivation, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, bowel cancer, dementia, and homosexuality."

"Brenda" at her new job one week on

"The problem you have with marijuana is that it's essentially a 'Gateway' drug," said Dr. Phillip Heath of the anti-drug group Lifeline. According to Dr. Heath, marijuana users are over 567,000 times more likely to experiment with harder drugs than non-users, a fact sadly mirrored by Brenda's own tragic experiences.

"The minute I tried it I was hooked," she said. "Instantly. One drag was all it took. I just wanted more and more. When it eventually ran out the only way I could substitute my cravings was by eating."

Brenda, like many young women trapped in the viscous marijuana cycle, gave up her job (a £45,000 Advertising position in the City) within a week, and turned to Prostitution to feed her spiralling addiction.

"But then that wasn't enough. I needed a new high, a new buzz and within a week I was injecting Heroin into my eyes."

Despite numerous attempts to give up, she claims her efforts were thwarted by the greed of her manipulative drug dealer.

"Brenda's" attempts at locating Cannabis

"He was always pushing it on me, always coming around and insisting I have some more," she said. "When he wasn't hanging out in front of primary schools insisting 4 year olds buy his stuff, he was at my apartment (A £370,000 Chiswick property which was sold a month later to fund her subsequent crack habit) demanding I carry on buying. He just wouldn't take no for an answer."

Powerful new legislation is being considered this week by Parliament, with the possible introduction of "Kate's law," named after teenager Kate Burton, who died last year after taking two drags of a marijuana spliff. Under the new law, possible maximum prison sentences would be extended to 25 years for anyone caught in possession of a small amount of cannabis. A move applauded by Anti Drug Christian lobbyist and Spokesman for the action group Future Child, Rev. Charles Smyth-Bright. "Adults as young as 25 are risking their lives every day with cannabis," he claimed. " What we need is proper legislation, now, before it's too late."