Banning killer drug will save other families this anguish

THE scores of cards covering every available surface at Nick Smith's family home are eloquent testament to the love and affection in which the teenager was held.

More than 1,000 tributes have also been posted online for the trainee chef from Winterton who died last month aged just 19 after taking the drug mephedrone on a night out in nearby Scunthorpe.

Another teenager, Louis Wainwright, also died and around two dozen others are believed to have been to hospital for checks after police warned of the drug's dangers.

His parents Tony, 52, and Elaine, 50, had given general warnings about drugs to Nick, his twin sister Holly and their elder son Matt, 22.

But, like many parents, they did not imagine any drug would impact on the family, let alone have the devastating consequences which will now forever touch their lives.

Elaine, a Macmillan nurse in East Yorkshire, said: "If it can happen to us it can happen to anyone. I suppose we buried our heads in the sand – we never, ever considered drugs would come into our lives. It's a wake-up call for us and most of our friends as parents because they'd not heard of mephedrone either.

"Of course we weren't with him 24 hours a day and we don't know if he'd taken anything before, but he worked 16-18 hours a day as a chef.

"He was happy, he was fit, he was healthy, he was successful, he was doing really well at work. He was just a really outgoing, bright, happy lad. Our guess is he hadn't tried it before.

"Because it was legal, Nick would feel it was safe. With peer pressure and because it's so easy to get hold of, Nick wouldn't think there was anything wrong with it."

Nick was a trainee chef at the award-winning Winteringham Fields restaurant, working six days a week at a job he loved. He spent so much time there the staff became a "second family".

He had worked on Mothering Sunday before heading out with friends for a night out.

When he did not return during the next day his family became concerned but did not think anything was amiss, until they heard about Louis's death and contacted police.

His father, Tony, said: "It never crossed my mind that he had died – I just thought he had got himself into a bit of bother."

Now his family face a future without him – but are determined others will not be affected in the same way by mephedrone.

The drug is marketed as plant food, but in the past 18 months it has become popular as a party drug due to its cheapness, easy availability and, perhaps above all, because it is legal.

But concerns about dangerous side-effects have been growing and it has now been linked with as many as 25 deaths in England and Scotland.

The double tragedy in North Lincolnshire spurred the Government into action and the drug is expected to be banned this month if legislation can be rushed through Parliament before it is dissolved – although the decision is not without its critics.

Last week, Eric Carlin, a member of the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), resigned claiming it was "unduly based on media and political pressure", to make the Government look tough prior

to the election.

He said he was unhappy to work for a body which led to the "potential criminalisation of increasing numbers of young people".

In stark contrast, the Smiths want the ban imposed as quickly as possible. An online petition following Nick's death has already attracted 14,000 names.

"We feel it could be someone else in the same position as us next week," his mum said said.

"Surely if young people still continue to take this drug knowing it to be illegal and unsafe, they must suffer the consequences of a criminal record.

"The potential to save lives should be paramount.

"In a growing culture amongst young people of 'party highs' our children's lives are increasingly in danger.

"With the relationship between the Government and the ACMD breaking down, how many more families will be devastated before Mr Carlin and some of

his ex-colleagues have had enough time to consider their actions?

"My son's death was the trigger for political and media pressure. If steps had been taken sooner he may still be alive today."

In the weeks since Nick's death, his family have been tremendously grateful for the support they have received.

Tony, a retired fire officer who now works as a community safety officer for the fire service, said he still could not accept Nick had gone.

At his funeral service, he had instead recalled all the things he would miss about his son like his smile, bailing him out at the bank, or even little things like dealing with the faulty petrol cap on his car.

They had also been touched by the special memories so many people have of him, including the time of his prom to mark leaving school in Winterton, when he asked if he could bring some friends back home – and invited the entire 120-strong year group.

The family have been back to the restaurant where he worked where, in a special gesture, staff served them a menu of his favourite dishes.

Nick's work station there is still set up for him and the family have kept his chef's whites and shoes out where they had been left ready for work.

"We cannot bring ourselves to touch them at the moment," added his father.

His wife said one of Nick's former teachers had sent a message which said "he had a silly moment and paid the ultimate price". "We will all pay it now forever," she said.

She added: "We feel robbed that someone so special has been taken so unnecessarily.

"Nick was a decent, hard-working lad. This could have been a one-off and he has just been dreadfully unlucky. But because it happened to Nick, it could happen to any other kids out there."