Press Release: Drugs In Ski Resorts - Fact or Fiction?

LONDON - 27 August 2001- Cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis, speed. If this sounds like your weekend shopping list you could have trouble lasting the pace during a ski season.

The closest most season workers will come to drugs during a winter will be the occasional joint, but harder drugs are becoming more common.

Jean-Pierre Colle, an Alpine policeman, claims he knows of 'a dozen season workers addicted to cocaine or heroin'.

In recent years ski resorts have become popular spots for drug dealers, whose fast cars and jobless existence blend in easily. Apartments in resorts like Flaine and Val Thorens are used for storing thousands of pills prior to sale in nearby cities such as Lyon or St Etienne.

Most Class A addicts are local hotel, hire shop and bar staff. However Natives' contacts in resort suggest that there are an increasing number of British resort workers taking Ecstasy and Cocaine. Regular supply chains have been put in place to supply the Alpine rave culture.

Ironically, in France drugs are now easier to find than Red Bull, the menacing drink that 'gives you wings' and which is still forbidden by the French authorities.

Natives (www.natives.co.uk) is Europe's leading resource for ski resort news and for finding jobs in ski and summer resorts. In August 2001, Natives had 50,000 unique visitors and over 1m hits.

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CONTACT:

Iain Martin
Managing Director
Natives, 17 Linstead House, 9 Disraeli Road, London SW15 1SP

T: 08700 463355
M: 07703 163576
E: iain@natives.co.uk