{"id":3130,"date":"2006-10-23T05:03:11","date_gmt":"2006-10-23T05:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?post_type=dt_portfolio&p=3130"},"modified":"2023-08-20T11:58:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T11:58:04","slug":"new-statesman","status":"publish","type":"dt_portfolio","link":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman","title":{"rendered":"New Statesman"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Legal highs: the new \u2019social tonics\u2019?<\/p>\n

Britain’s drugs laws are in a mess, and into the confusion has stepped a new breed of drugs entreprepreneur
\nBy Stephen Armstrong<\/p>\n

I meet my dealer, Matt Bowden, in the plush foyer of a Kensington hotel. He welcomes me with a big smile on his boyish face, hands over his business card and opens up his laptop. \u201cI\u2019ve got a PowerPoint presentation on the pills if you\u2019d like to see it,\u201d he offers.<\/p>\n

Matt Bowden isn\u2019t exactly an ordinary dealer. Indeed, in the truest sense of the word, he isn\u2019t a dealer at all. For one thing, the pills he\u2019s selling are perfectly legal. He\u2019s a smart marketing man from New Zealand who sees Britain\u2019s unquenchable desire for \u201csocial tonics\u201d \u2013 his favourite phrase \u2013 as a big opportunity.
\n\u201cThere needs to be a move away from prohibition in drug laws,\u201d he argues in his soft Kiwi accent. \u201cToday the laws reward gangsters and that\u2019s completely dysfunctional. What I\u2019m saying is: let\u2019s look at it from a marketing perspective and see what consumer needs are currently being met by criminals. Are people looking to relax? Is it a social lubricant? People take E, for instance, to break down barriers so they can communicate in a social environment. I\u2019m saying we should meet those consumer needs with something that has a lower risk profile.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More …<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.newstatesman.com\/long-reads\/2006\/10\/legal-highs-the-new-social-tonics<\/p>\n

or http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220809023721\/https:\/\/www.newstatesman.com\/long-reads\/2006\/10\/legal-highs-the-new-social-tonics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had a call from ‘New Statesman’ and realised our message was echoing in the halls of power in the UK, whose All Party Parliamentary Group recommended the UK follow NZ’s lead on regulatory model.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","dt_portfolio_category":[],"dt_portfolio_tags":[],"class_list":["post-3130","dt_portfolio","type-dt_portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","description-off"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Statesman - MattBowden.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Statesman - MattBowden.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had a call from 'New Statesman' and realised our message was echoing in the halls of power in the UK, whose All Party Parliamentary Group recommended the UK follow NZ's lead on regulatory model.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MattBowden.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-20T11:58:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/new-statesman-cover.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"249\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman\",\"name\":\"New Statesman - MattBowden.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/new-statesman-cover.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2006-10-23T05:03:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-20T11:58:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/new-statesman-cover.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/new-statesman-cover.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":249},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Portfolio\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/?post_type=dt_portfolio\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"New Statesman\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"MattBowden.com\",\"description\":\"Starboy Matt Bowden homepage, work, story, art, music, bog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/mattbowden.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Statesman - MattBowden.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Statesman - MattBowden.com","og_description":"I had a call from 'New Statesman' and realised our message was echoing in the halls of power in the UK, whose All Party Parliamentary Group recommended the UK follow NZ's lead on regulatory model.","og_url":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman","og_site_name":"MattBowden.com","article_modified_time":"2023-08-20T11:58:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":249,"url":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/new-statesman-cover.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman","url":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman","name":"New Statesman - MattBowden.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/mattbowden.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/new-statesman-cover.png","datePublished":"2006-10-23T05:03:11+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-20T11:58:04+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/new-statesman-cover.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/new-statesman-cover.png","width":500,"height":249},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?dt_portfolio=new-statesman#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Portfolio","item":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?post_type=dt_portfolio"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"New Statesman"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/mattbowden.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/mattbowden.com\/","name":"MattBowden.com","description":"Starboy Matt Bowden homepage, work, story, art, music, bog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/mattbowden.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/dt_portfolio\/3130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/dt_portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/dt_portfolio"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3130"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/dt_portfolio\/3130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3138,"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/dt_portfolio\/3130\/revisions\/3138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"dt_portfolio_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdt_portfolio_category&post=3130"},{"taxonomy":"dt_portfolio_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattbowden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdt_portfolio_tags&post=3130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}