'Don't Die - Get Legally High Naturally'

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• Publié par: angelus-foundation
• Nombre de lectures: 12
• Langue: English

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'Don't Die - Get Legally High Naturally'

PR Newswire LONDON, November 6, 2012

LONDON,November 6, 2012/PRNewswire/ --

The Why Not Find Out campaign launches the first national film competition for young people to explore ways of getting naturally high

Wed 14 November,Tricycle Cinema,London NW6,9pm

Instead of experimenting with legal highs, the often toxic substances that are not what they say on the tin, the Why Not Find Out campaign (recently unveiled by the Angelus Foundation) is now launching a national film competition in which young people can make films about their favourite ways of releasing natural chemicals which m ake them naturally high: having fun, but staying safe.

th The launch of the Naturally High film competition w ill take place on the 14 November at the Tricycle Cinema in Kilburn in conjunction with the Jewish Film Festival which was named 'Pick of the Week' by Time Out this month. Young people will be invited to compete to make films about the best ways of getting naturally high, such as sports and music (film makers can seek funding through o2's Think Big programme (http://www.o2thinkbig.co.uk) which gives grants of £300 to 13-25 year olds for film projects aimed at addressing local issues). The winners will be mentored by award winning film producers including Simon Berthon (who has produced Wallis Simpson: The Secret Letters, Nuremburg: Goering's Last Stand and the Channel 4 series Warlords) and the judges of the competition include Lord David Puttnam, the Angelus Ambassador for Film. The winning films will appear on television.

At the launch event, Lord Parry Mitchell, an Angelus Foundation Ambassador, will chair a panel includingCherie Lunghi, actor; Jeff Leach, celebrity presenter and comedian; Dr Anthony Seldon, Headmaster at Wellington College and co-founder of the Happiness Campaign; Dr Owen B owden Jones, Chair of the Faculty of Addiction at the Royal College of Psychiatry; Vicky Unwin, film critic and travel writer; and Maryon Stewart, founder of the Angelus Foundation. The panel will be discussing the mechanics and need by young people to get high.

Almost one-third of young people are searching for ways of getting legally high according to the latest survey commissioned by the Angelus Foundation. However tw o-thirds of the 16-24 year olds (67%) surveyed admitted not (1) being well informed about the risks associated with taking legal highs. In fact a quarter (26%), wrongly believe (2) that legal highs are safer than illegal drugs. Even more worryingly, the vast majority of parents (86%) also lack the vital knowledge needed to warn their children about the dangers of legal highs.

(3) In 2011, a new legal high became available to young people across the UK almost every week for as little as £1. The dangers of these new drugs are almost completely unknown, although many have the potential to be lethal. With an additional 28 new legal highs becoming available in the UK in the first five months of 2012, this figure is set to rise throughout the rest of the year. An increasing number of deaths are being linked to the use of legal highs: in the last month alone, Joseph Bennett, 17, died from inhaling nitrous oxide, police inScotland revealed three were hospitalised from a legal high called 'Annihilation', six more were hospitalised in Melrose in Scotland and Billy Robson, a 16 year old boy, died.

Substances sold as legal highs are invariably an unknown quantity. They may be a dangerous combination of toxic chemicals which young people take, believing they are safe. There is a wide range of side effects which can include psychosis, depression, panic attacks, heart problem s, seizures, coma, loss of use of the bladder and even death and yet there are no warnings about the health hazards.

The Why Not Find Out campaign, supported by advertising agency Leagas Delaney, and a website - www.whynotfindout.org- provides impartial information and advice for young people to help them make informed decisions about legal highs.

Maryon Stewart, founder of the Angelus Foundation says,

"Young people quite naturally want to have fun but it's important that they stay safe in the process and fully understand that just because a substance is legal it doesn't mean it's safe. Instead, we are providing them with the opportunity of capturing on film the many wholesom e ways of getting naturally high including through sport, music, dance, comedy, relationships, friendships and nature and giving them access to mentoring by a panel of award winning film producers. Mother Nature allows us to feel high naturally by releasing endorphins, but m any of us have forgotten to tell this to our children. Too little emphasis has been placed on releasing these feel good hormones and it's time to explore the best ways of getting naturally high".

th Tickets for the launch on the 14 November can be obtained by calling the box office on[phone]or by going towww.tricycle.co.uk

Note to Editors

Why Not Find Out is the brainchild ofMaryon Stewart, who founded the Angelus Foundation after her daughter, 21 year old medical student Hester, died in 2009 after consuming the then legal GBL. Through dedicated research, education and advocacy, The Angelus Foundation strives to highlight the risks of legal highs and club drugs and encourage young people to make informed, responsible choices and lead safer lives.

UK Jewish Film and the Pears Foundation have been supporting UK filmmakers since the UK Jewish Film Festival's inception in 1996. Every year, two grants of £10,000 are made available for the production of a short film - drama, animation or factual with a Jewish theme of significance to both Jewish and general audiences. The judging panel is drawn from experienced professionals in the British film and TV industry and the scheme is open to all filmmakers resident in the UK.www.ukjewishfilm.org

(1)The Angelus Foundation commissioned the independent online research company Research Now who surveyed rd th 1,011 16-24 Brits,between3and8 October 2012

(2)Source: YouGov survey commissioned by Frank 18th - 23rd July 2012

(3) In 2011,49 new 'legal highs' were identified by European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.