This is the story of one of the largest 𝙥𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙘 manufacturing operations the world has ever seen. If you bought 𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙙 anywhere in the world in the late 1970s, there was a 60% chance it came from this one source. If you were in the UK, that went up to 90%. It’s a story of love, betrayal, buried treasure, and the UK’s biggest ever police raid (800 officers from 11 forces arrested 120 people). This is the story of The Microdot Gang, and I'm telling it with the help of author James Wyllie.Read James' book on this (out in paperback in July 2026): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microdot-Gang-Network-Turned-World/dp/0750996005

Use the promo code ‘𝘚𝘌𝘚𝘏’ for a 10% discount on all EZ Test kits 👉https://eztestkits.com/en-ukThe Clash wrote a song about all this, listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsGnYHXGtAU

Max Daly is a veteran crime and drug culture journalist with over 30 years of experience. He’s the co-author of Narcomania: How Britain Got Hooked On Drugs, co-author of Breaking Klad: Russia’s Dead Drop Drug Revolution, and he was the Global Drugs Editor at VICE Media for many years.

In this podcast, we talk about why people in America are taking much less coke, Belgium's narcos, and Russia's dead drop drugs delivery system. And there's a bunch of anecdotes from his journalistic adventures thrown in for good measure.

Check out his book: Narcomania: How Britain Got Hooked On Drugs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Narcomania-How-Britain-Hooked-Drugs/dp/0099538032

Here are the articles we discuss:

Why America is falling out of love with cocaine

Is Belgium a Narco-State?

Breaking Klad: Russia’s Dead Drop Drug Revolution

Here’s his Substack:⁠https://maxdaly.substack.com/⁠

Use the promo code ‘𝘚𝘌𝘚𝘏’ for a 10% discount on all EZ Test kits 👉 https://eztestkits.com/en-uk

The Channel Islands are two British crown dependencies, Guernsey and Jersey, in the English Channel just off the Normandy coast of France. In Jersey, 6% of the working age population have a medical 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙙 prescription – a higher number per capita than anywhere else in the world. I went there to learn more.

Music Ambient Downtempo | Breaking News by Alex-Productions | • Ambient Downtempo Electronic corporate (No... Music promoted by http://onsound.eu/

Use my promo code ‘𝘚𝘌𝘚𝘏’ for a 10% discount on all EZ Test kits 👉 https://eztestkits.com/en-ukDr Rayyan Zafar is a neuropsychopharmacologist who researches 𝙥𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙨 and medical 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙨. I took your questions to him. This video was filmed at Subrosa Studios: a new music production, content creation, and livestreaming studio in London. More info here 👉 https://www.subrosa-studios.com/Check out Rayyan's research: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/r.zaf...Follow him here: / rayyanzaf Listen while you're out and about, on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/60APrcj...Follow on TikTok: / simon.doherty Follow on Insta: / _simon_doherty #simondoherty MusicAmbient Downtempo | Breaking News by Alex-Productions | • Ambient Downtempo Electronic corporate (No... Music promoted by http://onsound.eu/

In the 1990s, the alcohol industry colluded with corrupt British politicians, crooked scientists, and unscrupulous tabloid journalists, all with one aim: to bring down rave culture.

In 1993, market analysts published a report into the future of the UK hospitality industry and it sent shivers down the spine of Big Booze. Between 1987 and 1992, pub attendance in the UK fell by 11%, with a projected 20% decrease by 1997. People drank less as they were more interested in 𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨. Estimates used in the report suggested the percentage of 16-24s taking any 𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙧𝙪𝙜 doubled to nearly 30% between 1989 and 1992. Not only that, they said that one million people a week were attending 𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 raves spending £1.8 billion a year there.

Big Booze was losing revenue and the government was losing the tax on that revenue. Both had a vested interest to bring down rave culture. And that’s why they colluded in a conspiracy to take it down. What followed was an unbelievable mix of dodgy politicians taking bribes, paid-off scientists publishing fake findings, and unethical journalists publishing propaganda. The puppeteers pulling the strings controlling all of these people was the alcohol industry.

This is the cautionary tale of Izzy Rose. She was convicted in Japan of arranging for the importation of a package containing 𝙠𝙚𝙩. Having been kept in solitary confinement for five months, she is now telling her story to draw attention to addiction. We learn how this happened, what the Japanese criminal justice system is like, and what Izzy took away from the experience.

Use the promo code ‘𝘚𝘌𝘚𝘏’ for a 10% discount on all EZ Test kits 👉 https://eztestkits.com/en-uk

Use the promo code ‘𝘚𝘌𝘚𝘏’ for a 10% discount on all EZ Test kits 👉 https://eztestkits.com/en-uk

What do you think about this? - This video is for journalistic and educational purposes only. - 0% 𝘼𝙄, now and forever. Consider subbing to support this channel.

Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@simon.doherty Follow on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/_simon_doherty

Chapters:

0:00 The Glory Days

2:10 Nicholas Saunders

4:43 A Word from the Sponsor

5:13 Testing

9:15 The Average Strength of Modern-Day Pingers

10:43 I Asked a First Generation Raver

11:47 More Testing

13:52 I Asked an Acid Techno Legend

16:04 Scientific Research

19:34 Final Thoughts

#SimonDoherty