Last week 25 year-old teaching assistant Anna Gregory* started to pack for her upcoming four week holiday to Palolem, in Goa. Excited at the prospect of a whole month off work, she tried to plan for every eventuality clothing-wise and still leave enough space in her suitcase for all the ‘goodies’ she was planning to pick up when she was out there.
Incidentally, we’re not talking spices or the obligatory sari fabric that everyone seems to pick up on a holiday to India. Instead Anna was planning to bring back as many packs of valium as she could fit into her suitcase. Available over the counter for as little as 10p a strip in India, it was fast becoming Anna’s new drug of choice, she was using the trip as an opportunity to buy it in bulk.
Last week, a young English couple were found dead in a hotel after an apparent prescription medication and cough syrup overdose, prompting fresh fears that India has become a so-called 'drugstopia' for tourists looking for easy access to prescription drugs and over-the-counter medication.
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Details surrounding the case are still murky, but grim photos of the bodies of 27 year-old James Gaskell and his 24 year-old wife Alexandra in a hotel room surrounded by the detritus of what looked like a binge on Diazepam, cough syrup and anti-depressants were released and published by news channels all over the world. Although it's not yet clear if all the medication was officially prescribed to the couple in India - New Delihi Dr Ish Anand has admitted prescribing Gaskell Diazepam (or the brand name Valium as it's more commonly known), but many of the rest of the prescription drugs found the hotel room remain unaccounted for. And much of the reporting surrounding the case have focused on Tweets made by James which discuss the ease with which he was able to access prescription medication over the counter whilst staying in Agra, near the Taj Mahal.
'Codeine under the counter here. With Valium, Xanax and Lyrica. Winning,' his last tweet read, for example.
An increasinly number of young people are using Valium and other Benzodiazepines - the family of drugs Valium belongs to - recreationally. Recent reports say addiction to the substances have been steadily on the increase for the last decade, with Professor Malcolm Lader calling benzodiazepines 'the biggest medically induced problem of the late 20th century'. He points out evidence in 1982 which suggests long-term valium users can experience brain shrinkage similar to that experienced by acute alcoholics.
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So it’s no surprise that you can’t get benzodiazepines over the counter in the UK - and that it’s increasingly difficult to get your GP to prescribe them without a good reason. 'The dangers of benzodiazepines misuse are now more widely understood by the medical community and doctors are much less willing to prescribe Valium or Diazepam as they once were,' Dr Edward Dean explains to The Debrief. 'But, conversely, the popularity of using these types of drugs recreationally has been on the increase, leaving a gap in the market for unscrupulous individuals to respond to demand. A quick Google proves how easy it now is to obtain "Valium" - or, more accurately, what people are marketing as Valium - online, but I've also anecdotally heard of British tourists travelling to places like Thailand and India where it can be much easier to obtain these drugs over the counter. It's a real concern, because I don't think many people are aware how addictive and potentially damaging diazepam use can be long-term.'
Not that this is enough to dissuade Anna from stocking up on Valium when she travels to India. 'It was really sad to hear about the young couple, but I have been taking Valium for over a year and am pretty certain I know the limits of what my body can and can't handle. I started using valies as a way to come down off coke, but three years ago I went to India and met a lot of a British tourists who were using them as a party drug in their own right. That may sound counter-intuitive because Valium is often prescribed to make you fall asleep, but move past the drowsiness and it's like being really drunk or stoned. I love it,' she says resolutely.
‘Some pharmacies in Goa won't serve you over the counter, but it's usually just a case of walking over the road to another pharmacies where you can get a strip for as little as 10p. Considering you can pay up to £20 for the same in the UK, that's a real bargain so when I'm here I like to stock up. I've seen people who can't take it, but I've always had it under control and I take about 7 pills a week now.'
Anna may feel like she’s got it under control, but the reality is, the strength of the pills can vary wildly from one batch to the next, so you have no idea what you’re buying. 'I had one pretty dicey situation last year,' Anna admits. 'I'd taken two pills the night before whilst out for drinks and had been fine, so when we went out the next day I did the same and assumed I'd have the same experience. Fast forward two hours later and I'm out cold in a bar in the middle of a part of town that has had incidences of sexual assaults on tourists in the past. It was pretty terrifying. Luckily I was with some male friends so I was alright, but I admit it could have been much worse.'
This is the very reason some of the self-confessed drugs tourists we spoke to refused to take any of the drugs they purchased in India until they were safely back on UK soil. Sophie Peters*, 28, works for a lingerie brand which has factories in India and often has to travel there for work. Realising that a number of her friends were buying Valium from street dealers for £20 for 16 pills - which she could get for 20p over the counter in India - she decided to supplement her wage by bringing the drugs back with her and supplying them to her friends. 'Even though I mostly bring Valium back in my suitcase to sell, I do use them myself but only in my own house because I've seen it go very wrong for people who use Valium whilst out drinking - passing out or vomiting and stuff - and I wouldn't feel safe doing it whilst travelling alone in India,' she says.
‘I know it's risky travelling with up to 50 packets of Valium in my suitcase but it's worth it because there's such a big market for Indian valies - which lots of people think are stronger than the ones you can buy from dealers in the UK - and it basically means I can afford to live in London on the paltry wage I get paid from my day job. I've never had any problems going through customs but if I was worried I'd just chuck them - I'd only have lost a couple of quid. To be honest, it's lame but the whole thing is quite trendy at the moment and it's mainly rich hipsters I sell to. Everyone wants to hear about how easy it is to get drugs in India when I get back home - it seems to be part of the appeal of going there.'
But for former drugs tourist Pete Michael* taking smuggled prescription medication is no joke. 'I used to buy Indian Valium from a friend of mine to use when I was hungover from other drugs having no idea how ducking dangerous it was,' the 27 year-old art restorer tells The Debrief. 'Then two years ago, a friend of ours was found dead in his bedroom after a coke binge. He had nine times the recommend dosage for anxiety of diazepam in his body, which he'd bought from our dealer who got his supply in India. People think they're harmless because you can get them over the counter, but the truth is you have no idea what you're taking and it can have very very serious consequences. You just don't know what can happen.'
And as more and more details surrounding James and Alexandra Gaskell's death emerge, that is becoming abundantly clear.
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*names have been changed.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @Sophiecullinane
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.