Concern over rising MCAT use

Coun Potts said reading the Guardian’s special report on MCAT last week took her back to 2002 when Bassetlaw was experiencing a heroin epidemic.

“I had massive flashbacks to the problems we had with heroin and we need to tackle this right now to ensure it doesn’t spiral out of control,” she said.

“Back then we had a lot of deaths in 12 months and they were all people I knew really well. It was rife and it was the people left behind who really suffered.”

Coun Potts recalled the awful moment her grandson, then aged 10, came back with a flask he’d found in wasteland near her Manton home.

“I thought it was a children’s flask but when I opened it was full of needles. I was so upset and asked myself what his future was going to be like,” she said.

Coun Potts said it was great to see the Heroin Inquiry bring about positive change across Bassetlaw.

“You don’t see as many down and outs as you used to. We also have now got proper places in chemists to pick up methadone,” she said.

“I was sat in my local chemists one day and saw someone come in to pick up his script and congratulated him on getting help.”

But she said the increasing MCAT drug problem needed urgent attention, as well as alcohol abuse in the district.

“There was a lot of hard work done during the 2002 inquiry and I think it really paid off,” she said.

“I think the new inquiry will be good because you have got to be on top of it all.”

“I do think drink has become an increasing problem - people are getting drunk before they go out and you see a lot of people on the streets drinking strong lager.”