BBC Radio 4 and Diario de Noticias have joined forces to highlight the ‘Bloom’ epidemic in Madeira.
Between 2017 and 2024, the amount of new psychoactive substances (NPS) seized by the Public Security Police in Madeira (PSP) increased exponentially, from 170 grams to 16 kilos, in seven years.
The data from the PSP is accompanied by several alerts from the regional authorities, who fight daily to combat the scourge of drugs in the region.
In an article printed in Diario, Helen Clifton interviews several people within the context of taking and selling bloom on the streets.
In one interview, she asks:
“Have you ever sold ‘bloom’?”
A man identified as Bruno denies it: “‘Bloom’ is too addictive. Imagine if I sold ‘bloom’ and started smoking. I would lose money, lose my mind, and lose all my cargo.”
“Where do you buy the drug?” interjects the BBC journalist.
“There are places we know. I just saw the person pass by, I won’t say who it is. We go there, to the place where they usually sell. I will also go there. I’m going to smoke a joint with my friends, drink a little more, and then go home, to go to work and… start all over again,” he summarises.
During the conversation, Helen states that it occurs to Bruno that even if he wanted to stop, he has no lifeline to hold onto: “Right now I have nothing that makes me regret and think that I shouldn’t be doing this, that I shouldn’t need [the ‘bloom’]. Sometimes, you need to feel a little happy. Tomorrow is another day,” he concludes.
Chilling words and a desperate situation for many of those who live here.
The BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Madeira’s Drug Crisis’ was aired at 13:30 this afternoon and will be replayed again on Monday, the 2nd of June at 16:00.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
