Drug Dealing

Photos by Alex Sturrock

ice: Why have you got this leg tag? Guy with tag: I got caught with 150 kilos of cannabis. I went to pick it up in Wakefield and I got caught. They’d been watching us for a good few years. I’m not doing it any more. So how’d you run into trouble? In St Ann’s there’s shitloads of drugs. Anything you want. There’s lots of drugs because it’s a poor area. It’s like, why go out and do a normal job why you can go out and sell drugs? Is that why you did it? The main reason I did it because my business failed. I had a breaker’s yard. Environmental laws changed and everything like that and I lost a lot of money, like £10,000. And it was my family business. That’s why I turned to drugs. After the laws came in, I had about six months to get ready for unemployment. The time was very hard and all I could think about was “How am I going to get any money?”. I’m married with a kid so that’s all that was on my mind. It was how to provide for my family. How’d you get into it? I got into selling drugs via a friend. It wasn’t a tricky decision to make because with drugs, the money is there. I did it for a few months and then I got arrested and I was inside Doncaster Prison for a few months. Was that fun? Prison was all right actually, it was good. Now I’m on bail with this tag. I’m on tagging. The conditions mean I can’t do nothing. I’ve got to be in by quarter-to-seven. Is that fun? I’m very trapped by it. It’s my birthday tomorrow and I’ve got to be in by 6.45 PM. My next move is, learn to be a plumber. I won’t make as much money as I did with weed but I’ll make a decent living. The only reason I was there at that time was a favour. That’s why I got done. I used to sell other stuff as well but picking up the weed, I did that as a favour. For me, selling drugs was not a problem. You do worry about getting caught but it’s about money, isn’t it? Money, money, money. It’s very hard to find. When you’re in Nottingham and these things come about, somebody offers you this, that and the other, you’re going to take it. No matter what the cost. It didn’t bother me, did it? I did my time, now I’m back and I’m going to get on with things. VICE STAFF