SO DRUGS ARE COOL, LILY?
Singer jokes about passing out at party after snorting horse tranquilliser – that she ‘assumed was cocaine’
LILY Allen has been accused of glamorising drug use after joking on social media about passing out at a party after taking ketamine.
The singer, 33, told her 5.9million Twitter followers how she was thrown out of the Glamour Awards ten years ago after snorting a line of what she ‘assumed was cocaine’.
The mother of two had in fact taken ketamine, a powerful anaesthetic often given to horses that is widely abused by clubbers and categorised as a Class B drug.
Cocaine, which Miss Allen freely admitted she was trying to take, is Class A illegal substance that carries a seven-year prison sentence for possession.
Responding to a Twitter discussion about ‘the best reason you’ve been kicked out of an event’, the pop star tweeted: ‘Someone gave me a line of what I assumed to be cocaine at the Glamour Awards once. But it turned out to be Ketamine. I was thrown out (passed out over some railings) of the Glamour Awards in a k hole.’ The phrase ‘k hole’ is a reference to the effects of ketamine, which can leave users unable to move, suffering hallucinations, and feeling disconnected from physical sensations.
Miss Allen followed her tweet with a photo of herself being carried out of the event by two men, and a second picture where she is being passed over some railings to another two men. The Smile singer said she was being handed over to her assistant, who then put her in a car to be driven away when the paparazzi ‘got wind’ and followed behind in a cab with comedian Alan Carr.
Miss Allen, who rose to stardom in 2006, was slammed by followers and experts for sharing the tale with impressionable fans.
There have been 117 deaths in England and Wales involving ketamine since 1993, Public Health England said yesterday. In 2016, cocaine was involved in the deaths of 371 people – a rise of 16 per cent on 2015 – Office for National Statistics figures show.
One Twitter user asked Miss Allen: ‘Is this really something to glamorise / be proud of?’ Miss Allen replied: ‘ Probably not, do you have a point?’
The critic retorted: ‘ There are people responding to this with phrases like “goals” and “hilarious”... my point is that could have a damaging effect and glamorising drug taking could be dangerous.’
Addiction counsellor Mark Dempster said by tweeting about drugs, celebrities such as Miss Allen can make young people ‘excited’ about taking illegal substances.
Stars with a ‘widespread reach on social networks’, as Miss Allen does, ‘ have a responsibility to be promoting public healthiness’, he added.
Mr Dempster said: ‘What I think happens here is they can often use the glamorisation of drugs to create this interest and excitement for the younger generation as they’re more susceptible and easily influenced.
‘They look at role models like Lily Allen as if they’re really cool.’
Mr Dempster, a recovering drug addict, said he was influenced by stars such as Jimi Hendrix, who died of an overdose in 1970, when he was growing up.
The singer replied to several comments criticising her behaviour with ‘#NoShame June 8’. No Shame is the name of Miss Allen’s fourth album, which is due for release next month. One song, named Trigger Bang, contains lyrics revealing details of the singer’s drug use.
Therapist Sally Baker said Miss Allen’s ‘confrontational’ response to her social media critics was ‘naive’ and ‘not going to make her any friends’.
Last year, in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, Miss Allen courted controversy by accusing the media of ‘downplaying’ the true death toll, which police put at 71.
‘Is this something to be proud of?’