lots to do in Soho on Saturday

There were a number of things I had planned to do in Soho on Saturday. I wanted to visit the new food market that had opened the previous Saturday in Rupert Street and Winnett Street. It's only open on Saturdays.

I also wanted to participate in the Soho Street Food Fair on over the weekend. I needed to buy a voucher from Hummus Bros in Wardour Street as I hadn't bought one over the internet. Once I had bought my voucher I would be able to go to the eight different food outlets and sample their delights. Hummus Bros didn't open till midday though so I had time for a coffee and something to eat, visit the market, and visit Nina.

Having had a coffee and seen the market I headed for Chinatown. When I got to Little Newport Street there was a woman I hadn't seen before standing in the doorway of the Chinese Medical Centre at number 7. She wanted to give me a leaflet and to invite me in.

I asked her if Coco was there that day. I didn't expect her to turn around and tell Coco I was asking for her. Although I have been tempted to see Coco again for a massage with a 'happy ending', I didn't want that today. I had to say something to her so I said I might come and see her later.

A few doorways along the street was the doorway to the walk up. I could see that today it was an oriental girl and so I went up the stairs and rang the bell. The maid opened the door and asked me to go into the bedroom.

I had not been in that flat before. The bedroom was small but nice, with a basin and a bidet. Looked quite clean. The girl came into the room and introduced herself. She wasn't Nina but a different oriental girl called Nicky.

When I knew that it wasn't Nina, and also that the minimum price was £25 and not £20 as at most places, I could have left. However, this girl was reasonably pretty and had a nice smile. I asked her if she could give me a hand job and she said yes.

We only had 10 minutes so I didn't try for a 'happy ending'. We lay on the bed together and I flirted with her, telling her how pretty she was (she had lovely big eyes), holding her in my arms and touching her all over including her pussy. She smiled and giggled a lot and pulled on my erect cock.

When my time was nearly up I knelt between her legs and held open her pussy and had a good look. We got off the bed and she gave me a big hug and said I should come back another time for longer.

I had wanted to ask the maid what days Nina was there, but I didn't get a chance. As I went out the doorway back onto the street I looked around and the Chinese woman was still standing outside the medical centre. She was looking at me so she must have known what I had been up to. Maybe she told Coco what she had seen.

Back at Hummus Bros I bought my voucher for £12, and got some takeaway food. Next stop was Moolis where I picked up an Indian wrap. I sat in Soho Square and ate both. The map that we were given with the voucher wasn't that accurate, but I managed to find the hummingbird bakery for my vanilla cupcake. The next place was somewhere I had not seen before. They gave me some mini meringues.

The whole point of the Soho Street Food Fair was that people would come to know some of the smaller food outlets in Soho and what they have to offer. Also to raise money for charity. I won't be going back for more meringues, though. The map led me off in the wrong direction and, after some confusion, I returned to Rupert Street and the new market. I hadn't realised that the next two items were from market stalls. I had a pork sandwich and then some strange meatballs.

Finally an ice cream cone in Old Compton Street and a coffee from the well-recommended cafe in Winnett Street. It was when I was in Old Compton Street that I noticed a short middle-aged woman with cropped hair. I thought she might be Pam the fag lady as mentioned in Clayton Littlewood's book Dirty White Boy: Tales of Soho. I have mentioned this book in previous postings. I watched her and she was asking people for money outside the French House and another pub.

I asked her if her name was Pam and she said it was. I told her I had heard about her in Clayton's book. She asked me if I could give her some change and I gave her some. I can't remember if Clayton said that Pam lives in the hostel at the northern end of Dean Street. I used to think that there is a hostel at the northern end of Greek Street but there isn't. I thought maybe the woman I met a while ago in Greek Street lived there. The building in Greek Street I was thinking of is the House of St Barnabas, which was a hostel at one time: it is marked as such in my street atlas.

I like the new market in Soho but I hope it isn't the beginning of gentrification of the area. Rupert Street is right next to Tisbury Court and Walkers Court.

Tisbury Court must be the seediest alleyway in Soho. It has the only peep show in Soho that I know of, and a couple of walk ups, and a porn DVD shop. It also has a couple of establishments that I suspect are clip joints, and there are women in the doorways trying to tempt men in.

At the junction of Tisbury Court and Rupert Street are diverse people hanging around asking tourists if they are looking for a girl. These people are called pimps but really they are trying to get money for nothing.

Walkers Court is an alleyway leading to Berwick Street and the established street market there. It has two or three sex shops.

I can imagine that the authorities might think that the new market is part of their vision the future of Soho, and that the sleazy side of Soho is incompatible with this. However, food and sex have always lived side by side in Soho, and I hope they always will. Soho is about the pleasures of life.

I hope that the new market continues to be what it is. It provides seasonal local produce (local to South East England) for a reasonable price. I bought a punnet of English cherries and some free-range eggs. I hope that the rents for stalls are kept reasonable so that we don't end up with something only tourists and the more affluent appreciate. Expensive meats and cheeses, olives and olive oil are good, but we need fresh, local and seasonal produce too.

If the authorities wanted to get rid of the seediest of the walk ups in Soho, that might not be a bad thing. As long as it isn't the the thin end of the wedge. The two flats in Greek street next to the bookies are seedy, as are the six flats in Lisle Street and the four flats near the market in Berwick Street. The flat in Little Newport Street is a nice one, as are the two flats at 8 Greek Street.

There are two or three walk ups outside Soho, in Shepherd Market. They seem to be clean and are unobtrusive. They are more expensive, though. I hope Soho continues to be the earthy lived-in place it has always been and doesn't end up like Covent Garden.

sex and food in Chinatown and Soho

Yesterday I was in Chinatown and Soho. I walked along Little Newport Street to see who was at the walk up there. I was hoping it would be Nina. I have not seen her before. Someone had said that there is a delightful young oriental girl there called Nina.

After my experience with the Chinese girl Coco in the same street I wanted to see an oriental girl for a massage with a 'happy ending'. I didn't really want to go to the Chinese herbal / acupunture / massage places because it costs quite a bit. Better to go to a walk up and get the girl to give me a massage, I thought.

I knew that sometimes there is an oriental girl working there and sometimes a blonde girl. I had tried previously to see the oriental girl but the maid told me she was busy, come back later. I had gone back but the maid had said the same thing. Yesterday the blonde girl was there so I didn't go up.

I walked past the place where I had seen Coco. Once I saw Coco standing outside the place handing out leaflets, although usually it is an older woman. Coco doesn't look quite as pretty in the light of day. A couple of weeks ago I was walking along Newport Court nearby and I stopped outside one of these places. There was a beautiful tall sexily-dressed Chinese girl I could see through the window.

A Chinese man came to the doorway and gave me a leaflet, asking what sort of massage I am interested in. I said 'Would it be with her'. He said yes. I didn't want to ask about a 'happy ending' because I know they don't like to discuss it. He suggested a head massage. I thought that's not what I'm looking for. He suggested a foot massage. I thought he's missing the best bits. Then he suggested a full body massage and I thought that sounds just what I want. Full body. Nothing left out.

However, it's a bit hit and miss with these places. You don't know what will be available and how much you might end up paying. I decided not to go in. Since then I have heard some bad things about these places, like they will have a clock set ten minutes before the correct time in the massage room so that you will think you've had an hour when you've only had 50 minutes. I'm still tempted to see Coco again though.

So with Nina not there yesterday it was Plan B. I wanted to see Sandy again in Old Compton Street. Going up the stairs though, I saw Ritzy's name. This was a surprise because I had been informed that she had left the profession. Ritzy is one of my favourites. So I went to see Ritzy.

I mentioned to Ritzy that people were saying she had retired. She told me she had just been on holiday back home in Jamaica. I asked her if she is a good girl when she is in Jamaica and she said she is. Usually British women on holiday abroad are much naughtier than when at home, perhaps having wild parties or whatever. It seems that a lot of the foreign sex workers in Soho don't do anything naughty when they go back to visit. Their families don't know what they get up to in London.

Ritzy wasn't her usual ebullient self yesterday. She let me finger her pussy and before I left we had a cuddle. I asked her if it was true that Paris was no longer working in Soho. We were in the flat where Paris - probably the most popular girl in Soho - worked. She confirmed it is true. A couple of weeks ago I had seen that Paris was there and had thought about seeing her. I wanted to see what she was like now she's no longer a blonde. But I didn't, which is a pity.

Ritzy works Wednesdays and Saturdays at 4 Old Compton Street, as does Sandy at the moment. She doesn't work at Green's Court anymore.

I walked around Soho and went for something to eat. I went into Hummus Brothers on Wardour Street. I had a small hummus with chick peas for £2.80. Delicious and cheap. I asked the guy behind the till about the Soho Street Food Fair on this Saturday and Sunday. I had heard about it on the JoAnne Good BBC Radio London show. The Hummus Bros were guests on her show a few days ago talking about this street food fair they were involved in.

It's been organised for charity, Cancer Research UK. You can buy a ticket online for £12 and that allows you to go to a number of the smaller food outlets in Soho and get some food from each. If you go to all of them you will end up with about £24 worth of food. There are 8 outlets participating, eg Hummus Bros, Moolis and Hummingbird Bakery.

There's another reason why I want to go to Soho on Saturday. There's a new food market opened last Saturday in Rupert Street and Winnett Street. I wanted to go last Saturday for the opening but that was one of the days of the heatwave alert. It wouldn't have been so bad walking around Soho with a heatwave on, I could have had a coffee Frappucino from Starbucks or homemade lemonade from Hummus Bros, both cool and refreshing. But the idea of travelling on public transport there and back in the heat put me off.

When I go on Saturday I shall look again to see if Nina is there. If not, I've got another idea for some fun. Yesterday, out of curiosity, I went to see who was at the Green's Court walk up. I saw it was Mimi, and I was tempted. The door to Mimi's flat opened and the maid came out with a customer. I've seen this maid before, once, at Sandy's flat. Most maids are middle-aged and not attractive. This one, however, is young and beautiful. So, if Mimi is there on Saturday there is even more reason to see her.

Before I went home yesterday I decided I wanted to see Sandy. As I was walking towards Old Compton Street it started raining. I put on my jacket and sheltered in the doorway of a couple of walk up flats in Greek Street. The one near the bookies. This is the tackiest walk up I have seen, although I have not been in the flats. These are the flats that I thought might be 'the slaughter house' I had read about in the press. There's supposed to be somewhere in Greek Street where lots of Eastern European women were forced into prostitution. I knew it couldn't be the other two walk ups in Greek Street, so I thought it might be here. Now I am thinking this is an invention of the press. It's usually the same women there.

I took a photo of the doorway a long time ago. I was walking past it one day and I saw this cat sitting there. It just looked so humorous, what with the double meaning of 'pussy'. So I took a photo and put it on the internet. What I didn't realise at the time was that loads of other people have taken a photo of this cat and put the photos on the internet, he's quite famous! Apparently his name is Coco.

One day I saw Coco and thought I would take some more photos of him. Just then Billie Piper walked past. I didn't have the presence of mind to photograph her as she was walking towards me, but got one of her as she was passing. I followed her along Greek Street to make sure it was her, but didn't try to take any more photos of her.

I haven't seen Coco the cat for several months now.

I could have waited in the doorway until the rain had stopped. The rain was torrential, and usually this sort of rain doesn't last a long time. But I got bored and so decided to run the short distance to Sandy's flat around the corner. I got soaked though.

Sandy insisted that I take off my jacket so that she could put it in her tumble drier. She wanted to do the same with my shirt and jeans but they were not so wet so I told her there was no need. Sandy was her usual friendly ebullient self. She went out of the room with my jacket and the £25 I had given her and I took off all of my clothes and lay on the bed. It was when she returned that I noticed the sexy leopard print dress that she was wearing. She took off her dress and underwear and got onto the bed with me.

I asked her to lie down next to me. I said I wanted us to pretend to be on a beach in the Mediterranean. We were teenagers on holiday who had just met. I had taken her into the sand dunes and removed her bikini. I touched her pussy and then put my finger into her vagina. We did different things and ended up with her wanking me. I asked her to talk dirty, as I do when I am with Ivy.

It's funny that Ritzy and Sandy in Old Compton Street allow fingering but not oral sex without a condom, whereas round the corner in Greek Street Amy and Ivy do oral sex without a condom but not fingering.

Another funny thing is that if you walk around in Soho there are lots of people trying to rip you off, to get money from you for nothing or not a lot. However, as soon as you get up those stairs, the women want to provide you with an excellent service. And that's not because there's a pimp who's going to beat them up if the customer isn't happy.

I put my slightly damp clothes back on and Sandy gave me my jacket warm from the tumble drier. She's always talkative, she asked me if I had seen the final match in the football world cup. She was happy because Spain had won with a team that included many Catalans many of them from Barcelona. She is from Barcelona.

She opened the door to her flat to let me out and a man was just outside. He walked away along the corridor. He looked as if he might be going up to Ritzy's flat but he stopped and asked me if Sandy was OK. I told him she was. He was about my age and sounded as if he might be from Scotland. He asked me who was better, Sandy or Ritzy. I thought about it and said Sandy.

Both Sandy and Ritzy are lovely, but Sandy is taller and slimmer. Sandy was in a more ebullient mood that day. I think I shall see Ritzy again, but I shall definitely see Sandy again.

Clare Gee on TV tomorrow

Last month I did a post about Clare Gee and her recently published book Hooked: Confessions of a London Call Girl. She will be giving an interview on television tomorrow on This Morning on ITV. The show starts at 10.30 am. Last month there was an interview with her in Cosmopolitan magazine. She has also made a second appearance on JoAnne Good's BBC Radio London show.

Having read an interview in the press I don't agree with everything she says. She says she has no time for writers like Brooke Magnanti, who she says glamourize prostitution. I'm not a great fan of Brooke Magnanti (the blogger Belle de Jour and author of Intimate Adventures Of A London Call Girl) but I think she shows one person's experience of prostitution.

I'm not a great fan of escorts but probably the majority of escorts manage to keep away from drugs or addiction. Some of them fritter away their money on holidays, clothes, champagne etc but many of them use the money to pay rent or a mortgage and bills. Some of them will save money and maybe use it to do what they really want to do with their lives.

I wanted in this blog to show what I have seen in my involvement with prostitution. There is nothing fictionalized about my blog, unlike both Clare's book and Brooke's books. Some of what they have written did not happen. I wanted to show the opposite side of the sort of thing that Brooke has written about, the dark side of prostitution, but I am not dismissing her views. If women keep away from drugs they aren't going to end up like Clare did, or worse.

Clare doesn't have a balanced point of view. What she says is probably what most people want to hear. They want to believe that prostitution is always damaging to women. They want to believe that drug addiction is always the result of psychological disturbance deriving from childhood trauma and not self indulgence and emotional immaturity. The truth is always more complex than what people want to hear.

what I did in Soho last Wednesday

I got off the tube at Leicester Square and walked through Chinatown to Soho. When I got to the walk up in Frith Street that I was looking for the door was open. Even though it was just before midday. Usually I have something to eat in Soho before I see a girl but I thought I'm here now so I might as well go up.

I could see the name of the girl I was looking for. Alina, who I have heard good things about but not seen before. I knocked on the door and after a few seconds a voice came down the stairs saying she's not there yet. It was Alina's maid who was in the other flat. I asked when I should come back and she said half an hour.

That's OK I thought, I can go and have something to eat and a coffee. I walked along Frith Street past Bar Italia. I always have a look at the people sitting outside to see if there is anyone I recognize. JoAnne Good and her dog Matilda go there and apparently a well-known American actor (whose name I forget) likes to go there. I saw the musician Suggs enjoying a cup of coffee.

I went to a nearby Pret A Manger further up Frith Street and had a latte and something to eat. I read a newspaper and felt more relaxed. Walking back I saw Suggs again just getting up. I passed him on the pavement.

Back at the walk up the maid was in the doorway on her mobile. She was trying to phone Alina to see where she was. Then Alina came up the stairs, saying she was sorry she was late. We went into the bedroom and she took the money from me, £20, and went out. I took off my clothes and lay on the bed. I don't think I had been in this room before. It was small and had mirrors on the ceiling and by the bed.

Alina took her time coming back into the room, but I was happy, looking at myself in the mirrors. She came back in, wearing what looked like her bra and panties, and busied herself with paper towels and stuff. I noticed her big breasts as well as her pretty face. Then she went out again.

This reminded me of something similar that had happened in Green's Court a couple of years ago. I was on the stairway about midday and a beautiful Italian-looking woman came up the stairs and went into the flat, talking to the maid about transport delays. I wish that I had seen her. I would have like to have helped her take her clothes off, open up her legs and given her oral sex. I don't usually give oral sex, I think about what the previous punters have done to her that day. I know the prostitutes wash their genitals, but even so.

Alina came back into the room again. I asked her if I could give her oral sex but she said no. Alina is young and pretty, with a nice figure and big breasts. I can see why people like her. Maybe I'm getting used to being with beautiful women. Like most of the young ones I couldn't really communicate with her.

She put a condom on and gave me an energetic suck. I got erect and I looked in the mirrors at her head bobbing up and down. But soon my ten minutes were up.

I had already decided that I wanted to see two or three women that day. I don't usually do this. Maybe it would have been better if I had spent £60 for half an hour with one woman than £20 for ten minutes with 3 different women. But when you have the choice of so many beautiful women, sometimes you feel like a fox in a chicken coop or a nursery.

I wanted to see a real woman so I went to see Mimi in Green's Court. Mimi is Polish. She is tall and not too slender, how I like them. She has a pretty face and shoulder length curly blonde hair. I got Mimi to lie on the bed with her legs apart. I knelt between her legs and played with my willy while looking at her pussy. It didn't take long before I was erect and she put a condom on.

I don't always fuck the women I see in Soho, but there is something about Mimi. She's very sultry. Because she is tall my head was next to hers and her lovely hair. Without me asking her to, she started encouraging me, saying things like "Fuck my pussy, darling. Come on, fuck it". It was really lovely, but I can't come like that. When I got tired and started to lose my erection I stopped.

Sometimes it's difficult to believe that a man can have sex with a woman who looks like a movie star for only £20.

A few hours later I decided to go and see Sandy. Sandy was in a good mood, friendly and chatty. The last time I saw Sandy I thought she was really beautiful. I compared her to Eva Longoria. I was surprised this time that she did not seem quite so beautiful. I think there are some women who are sometimes really beautiful and other times not quite so beautiful. She was still lovely though.

She asked me what I would like and I said I would like a hand job. She said she would only charge me £20 for that. Usually £25 is the minimum for the women at 4 Old Compton Street. I asked her what she had been doing that day. She told me she had pissed on a man, had beaten another one. I can't remember all the details but she said something like "And then I put on a uniform and I was a schoolgirl". She likes all that kinky stuff. I was pleased that I'm not the only pervert that sees her.

I had forgotten that Sandy allows fingering. She let me put a finger in her pussy. She said she does Wednesdays and Fridays but that's going to change. She said something about a beauticians course she was doing or wanted to do and she wants to work around that. She seems to have her life sorted out. I shall see Sandy again.

angels

In March last year I wrote a blog post 'encounters with women with problems'. I wrote about a young woman who I saw in the street near where I live. She looked as if she was about to collapse and I went over to see if she was OK. I have seen her three times in the street since then but I haven't had the opportunity to speak to her.

I have also recently seen the other woman I talked about in the post. The one in Soho. She looked and sounded different from the other times I have seen her. I bought her something to eat. She recognized me but didn't seem pleased to see me and didn't want to talk much. She seemed more 'normal' than before, maybe they've changed her medication or something.

I talked to another young woman I saw in the street. The first time I saw Tracy was in the centre of Croydon. She was stopping people and asking them for money. I asked her why and she said that she needed money for somewhere to sleep that night. I mentioned that she didn't look very happy. I gave her a couple of quid and told her that the next time she saw me she could ask me again.

Weeks later I saw her outside the supermarket near where I live asking people for money. I didn't speak to her then. She came up to me in the street one day and I had a conversation with her. She said she was staying in a bed and breakfast hotel in that street. I asked her if she knew Trina and she said "Yes, I know Trina". Trina is a local drug addict that I have talked about in a previous post.

Tracy was quite scruffy-looking but she didn't look like and addict. She wasn't skinny. She is reasonably attractive. I haven't seen Tracy for a few weeks so I guess she must have moved on. If I had seen her again I would have asked her if she wanted anthing to eat and taken her to a local cafe.

You might think that I would have wanted to take Tracy back to my flat and have sex with her. I would only have done that if I thought it wouldn't have harmed her. I would have encouraged her not to go down the same route as Trina. I would have tried to help her see that she has an alternative to that.

If I thought that having sex with her would have made her think less of herself then I would not have done it. However, to a lot of these women having sex is no big deal. If a woman is on benefits and has nothing to do all day, then spending an hour having sex one afternoon with a nice man and getting £20 or £30 for it and a cup of tea after is something quite attractive. Or I could have photographed her.

Trina sent me a text message recently. It said "Do you remember me?". I didn't reply to her because I don't want to see her again. I don't even know if it was her, it could have been one of her male addict associates hoping to rob me.

Whenever I go somewhere that I may meet a prostitute I am hoping that I might meet an 'angel'. This is my word for a particular type of girl, someone rare. I have only met a few angels in the years I have been going to see prostitutes. I can't fully explain what makes a girl an angel. An angel is pretty, feminine and graceful.

I met one on Tooting Bec Common a couple of years ago. Her name was Louise. I was sitting on a bench and she came up to me on her bike. I had already been with a woman so I didn't want to take Louise into the bushes. I should have done, and got her phone number too.

She rode off saying she couldn't believe there were no punters around. When I walked off I saw her again. She asked me if I could give her a couple of pounds. I gave her all my loose change and then I gave her a big hug. She seemed to like that. She had said she was a regular on the common but I have not seen her since.

A few years ago I was in Liverpool and I passed a beautiful girl standing on a corner of Hope Street near the Anglican cathedral. There used to be loads of prostitutes near there. I went into the cathedral gardens and sat on a bench. She walked past me with a man and gave me a big smile. I decided to follow them from a distance. They went into a shrubby part of the gardens. At first I thought I'd lost them but then I saw them embracing against a tree. She saw me and I hastily went off, thinking the man might get angry and confront me. Never saw her again.

When I went to my dentist there used to be an angel there, a dental assistant. One day I saw my dentist and I thought she used the acronym 'DP' when talking to her assistant. I was interested because DP means something very rude in pornographic videos. Just before I left the dentist I asked this girl who was behind the desk "Do you know what 'DP' means?". The look on her face, of suprise and amusement, told me she knew what it meant. I said that I thought the dentist had said 'DP' and I didn't know what it meant. Apparently there is no dental term DP.

I don't think she's there now. If I see her behind the desk again I will say to the other assistant "Do you know what DP means?". When she says no, I'll say "She knows what it means" and then leave.

Elise Langham - missing girl

I have been going to Soho for years and two or three times I noticed a scruffy ill-looking girl in the street, usually in the company of other people. She looked like an addict but I don't know if she was a 'street girl'. She never propositioned me. I wouldn't have gone with her, even though she was quite pretty. I would have talked to her though, and maybe bought her something to eat.

Then just recently I saw something in the window of the police office in Peter Street in Soho. There were pictures of several people, their names and details of the ASBOs they had been given. I recognised one of the photos. It was the girl I had seen. I'm pretty sure it is the same girl.

It said that she had been given an Anti-Social Behaviour Order for drugs offenses and prohibited from entering the West End or Camden for 5 years. It said this was to 'protect residents and businesses from further anti-social acts'.

I looked up the name on Google and there are several articles from newspapers from a few years ago talking about a missing girl. She had left home and people were looking for her. I got the picture below from a BBC news site.
Poster appeal for missing Elise

Police searching for a "vulnerable" 16-year-old girl are putting up posters in an attempt to find her, a month after she disappeared.

It seems strange to me that the authorities thought that the best way to deal with her was with an ASBO. Isn't there some better way of dealing with girls like this than just banning them from where they live for years? If she breaks the terms of her ASBO she will go to jail.

It could be that something radical has to happen before she can turn her life around, and the ASBO might be it. Maybe she is back in her home town or with her family and she needs to know her old way of life is no longer open to her. I doubt that this kind of approach to the problem will work though.

The little poster in Peter Street did not say she was a thief. I don't think she had been stealing from local 'residents and businesses'. So I think that to say she was anti-social and that the community needs protecting from her is just wrong. It's just another example of how police are misusing Anti-Social Behaviour laws to stop people from doing things that they don't like. If it helped them it wouldn't be so bad. But this naming-and-shaming zero-tolerance attitude isn't intended to help people and probably won't.

documentary about street girls

I like to watch documentaries about drug addiction and prostitution. A few years ago I watched one about three girls who lived in Whitechapel in the East End of London. It was part of a series called Wasted. Stacey and her two friends Laura and Kelly were homeless and it showed them squatting first in Tower House, a large derelict building, and then in a nearby house.

They were addicted to crack cocaine and heroin but the documentary didn't seem to mention the crack cocaine. I think this may be because it is easier to have sympathy for a heroin addict than a crack addict. We think of heroin addicts as being forced to do things to avoid withdrawal symptoms. There are no withdrawal symptoms from crack.

Addicts can be prescribed methadone, which removes withdrawal symptoms. In Switzerland doctors can prescribe heroin, and this seems to get better results. Although I am against drugs, I would support something similar in Britain. Obviously, a heroin addict who is prescribed methadone or heroin is still an addict even if they stop buying heroin on the street. But at least their prescription is pure and unadulterated. Heroin addicts frequently die because they can't easily control the dose they take. And they won't need to get involved in prostitution or theft to pay for heroin. In their own time they can reduce the dose.

Crack cocaine is a different type of drug and I can't see how prescribing crack could work.

Laura had something wrong with her arm which meant she couldn't brush her hair easily. I expect it is quite difficult for homeless addicts to get to see a doctor. It was very sad to see and it makes you want to try to sort them out with their health problems by taking them to a doctor, dentist and optician. It shouldn't be that difficult to get them somewhere to stay, perhaps a hostel to begin with, get benefits sorted out and a methadone script.

Laura talked about her life. She said that she got into trouble early on but it was when her grandmother died that her problems really started. Laura was blamed by her family for the death of her Nan. They said the stress of Laura getting into trouble made her grandmother ill and caused her death. Laura wasn't allowed to attend the funeral although she loved her Nan. Her parents rejected her.

Stacey wrote poems about her life. One of them was quite powerful. However, through looking on the Internet I can see that she did not actually write it. She had a version of a poem possibly originally written by Larry Jackson for a woman called Miriam. It is called My Name is Cocaine. This is my own version.

My name is Cocaine
Coke for short
I came to this land
Without a passport
Ever since then
I've been hunted and sought

I'll make a student forget his books
I'll make a beauty neglect her looks
I'll make a teacher forget how to teach
I'll make a preacher not want to preach
I'll take your money and make you dirt poor
I'll take your sister and make her a whore

I'm a compulsion too tough for the man
I'm the reason for the battering ram
If you decide to climb on my back
You'd better ride me well
For the white horse of Crack
Will take you to hell.

There's one problem with this poem and that is that 'coke' is a street name for ordinary cocaine, whereas 'crack' is short for crack cocaine. Although coke and crack are both cocaine they are not the same, crack being much stronger and much more addictive.