1  Before you listen, think about heroin. It is derived from opium and is in the same family of drugs as morphine. What is the medical use of such drugs? Do you know anything about heroin addiction?
2 Now listen to Mike taLking about being a heroin addict, and answer these questions.
a   How does Mike take the drug?
b   How did he use to take it?
c   How long has he been taking it?
3 Why did Mike start taking heroin? The words in brackets will help you.
a (social)
b (attitude to adults)
c (school/job)
d (feelings about himself)
4 Why is it hard for Mike to give up? a (physical)
b (social) c   (daily life)
Look at these sentences from the tape.
"We'd, you know, dropped out of school... " "I mean, that's what they did in the evening... "
In spoken English, people use quite a lot of "fillers" like you know and J mean. Both these phrases give the speaker time to think. You know sometimes shows doubt: it means "Am I using the right word here?"
5 In which of these sentences do the phrases have their original meaning - and in which are they fillers?
a I mean Washington state, not Washington, D.C..
b I mean, they've got, you know, strange ideas.
c Do you know my sister?
d She's, you know, a paramedic or something.
e You know, it's a really good job.
f I mean, the money's not great, but she likes it.
6  Read out this text, adding some fiLlers. (Note: I mean usuaLLy goes at the beginning of a sentence. You know can go almost anywhere.)
"I started smoking when I was about 13. Lots of kids at school were already smoking by that age. I used to have a puff of my mum's cigarettes. She didn 'tmind. Then I started buying my own. In the end I was spending all my pocket money on cigarettes."
7 The chart below seems to show that cannabis is the biggest problem. But people worry more about ecstasy, cocaine and heroin. Why?
48%
Drugs, drugs... and 15-year-olds
Offered Tried
8 "Addictive" means "very difficult to give up". Do you think nicotine (in cigarettes) is addictive? Why is tobacco legal, when most of the other drugs on the chart are illegal? Would it be a good idea to make tobacco illegal?
9 Some people say that it would be better to Legalise aLL drugs. In that case, you could buy cannabis and other drugs from shops. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of such a change?
10 Design an anti-smoking poster for schools or colLeges. Sketch
a picture or use photos from a magazine; write a slogan and a couple of sentences to go with it.
11 A friend of yours has a problem with alcohol or drugs. Write a letter to the problem page of a magazine, asking for advice. Start like this:
Dear
I'm really worried about my
friend Tony (that's not his real name)...