In 2004 the acid tattoo scare made it into a fiction book called Run From Home by Sheila Quigley (Century, London, 2004). It's a supposedly authentic novel about drug dealing on a Tyne and Wear sink estate. Clearly Ms Quigley's research didn't extend to checking out whether or not this story was - or indeed could have been - true.
'Taking a key from a chain around her neck, she opened the roll-top lid. Inside was a large brown envelope. Carefully she shook the contents on to the palm of her left hand, and with her fingernail she moved the brightly coloured tattoos around. Bart Simpson grinned up at her. Tweety Pie smiled shyly and Sylvester licked his lips. These were only a few of the kids' favourite characters portrayed on the tattoos, which when applied to the skin in the traditional way, sent a dose of LSD right into the blood stream.'
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Swindon Advertiser 2 August 2001
BEWARE OF DRUGS HOAX
A drugs hoax which claims children are in fanger from temporary tattoos impregnated with LSD is being distributed in Swindon. A message that claims to be from the Metroploitan Police warns about a new form of the Class A hallucinogenic drug called blue star. According to the one-page flyer, the drug is being sold to children as tattoos and designed to be absobed through the skin. It adds that some of the drugs have been laced with the poison strychnine.
The scare was reported to Wiltshire Drugs co-ordinator Ben Hughes, by a concerned parent. Mr Hughes said: "I can confirm that this is a hoax. It is something that I and my collagues have run into before and crops up from time to time in our line of work. It has been circulated quite widely in the country but it is nothing to worry about. This has been conformed with the Drugs Advisory Service in Bristol, But I would like to thank the person who brougt it to my attention."
The hoax, which has been circulating in America for the last 20 years, has picked up new virulence and credibility through the internet and has prompted the US Drug Enforcement Administration to set the record straight on its internet site. The organisation explains that the rumour is believed to have originated in 1981. It adds: "This rumour, which is usually referred to as the Blue Star Hoax, warns parents that the LSD can be absorbed through the skin. Warning letters supposedly sponsored by police officials or parents groups have appeared often. However, no LSD-laden tattoo incidents have ever been documented. It explains that LSD manufacturers often place cartoon characters on blotting paper containing the drug."
There is no evidence if a child being injured by touching an LSD-laden tattoo, though hundreds of incidents of the Blue Star Hoax have been documented. Princess Margaret Hospital staff are among those to be taken in by the hoax. An emailed warning was distributed throughout the health trust that runs the hospital.
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Manchester Evening News 12 June 2001
ALERT OVER BOGUS 'LSD TATTOOS' LETTER
'Detectives in Wigan and Leigh are warning parents of a bogus letter about deadly tattoos being sold to schoolchildren which contain the hallucinogenci drug LSD The letter, which claims to be from the police, says "blue star" tattoos, soaked in LSD, are being sold to youngsters who can absorb the drug simply by handling the paper.
It also claims acid tabs resembling postage stamps featuring cartoon characters, clowns and butterflies, which can cause a fatal "trip" are also being circulated. Det Chief Inspector Ian Hilton said the letters had not been sent out by police and should be treated a scaremongering. He said: "While we have no evidence that these type of drugs are in circulation in the Wigan and Leigh areas, or inded if the even exist, we always advise paents to give appropriate advice to children about buying unknown objects."'
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Lancashire Evening Telegraph 15 June 2001
DRUG LEAFLET A HOAX
A drug warning sent to Fylde primary schools this week stating that LSD and strychnine laced tattoos were being sold to children has been revealed as an appalling hoax. Schools eceived leaflets headed "Notice to all parents", claiming to be from the Metropolitan Police, giving information about small tattoos resembling postage stamps with pictures of popular children's characters on the including Mickey Mouse, Bart Simpson and Superman.
It warned, "This is a new way of selling acid by appealing to young children and your child could come acriss these and have a 'fatal trip'. It is also believed little children could be given a tattoo by other children who want to have some fun by cultivating new customers without the child's knowledge."
The leaflet claimed that the drug could be absorbed through the skin simply by handling the paper and warned parents to look out for symptoms such as hallucinating, severe vomiting, uncontrolled laughter, mood changes and changes in body temperature. It also warned that some contained the poison strychnine.
Lancashire Constabulary conformed that the leaflet was a hoax and that the 'blue star' tattoos did not exist. Some headteachers chose not to circulate the leaflet to parents and children until its authenticity was confirmed, but some worried parenst received copies of the leaflet from their children's school. One mother, whose seven year old daughter is a pupil at the Breck Primary School in Poulton-le-Fylde, was upset that the school had sent copies of the leaflet home wth the children. "I was horrified. It was just sent out as an ordinary letter. When I opened her schoolbag I expected it to be a note about a PTFA meeting or something like that, but I wa sshcoked to discover it was a letter about LSD. My daughter said, 'If I'm given a sticker for good behaviour from my teacher will it kile me?' Now I've had to sit down and explain about drugs to my seven year old child. I was horrified at the way they've handled it."
Another parent with a seven year old son at Breck Primary agreed, "It made me feel phsyically sick. It was the way the letter was portraed. I put the fear of God into my son. At seven they are still babies and to have to tell them about things like this is awful. The school should have at least checked up to see if it was authentic before they sent this home. You can't go on hearsay. You've got to get your facts right. Now I've put my son through all this for nothing. I upset him unnecessarily about something he didn't need to know. If it had been authentic then we would have needed to know, but it should have been done in a different way. Maybe there should have been some kind of meeting to let us know how to explain something like this to the children."
Mw W.A. Bailey, headteacher at Breck Primary School, said that he had sent out a brief letter with a photocopy of the leaflet as a warning for parents and had no plans to follow it up with children at school. "I wasn't planning to make a big fuss about this because I wasn;t sure there was anything in it. I wasn't planning to make a big fuss about this because I wasn't sure there was anything in it. I've not noticed any of the children being partiuclarly worried. One or two have come and asked me about things - a couple about Bart Simpson transfers but I've said this isn't what we are worried about. I did think it was probably a hoax but I'm still pleased I sent the letter out. We will send another one out confirming that it was a hoax." Mr Bailey added that the children have drugs education at the school and they have held drugs evenins for parents in the past.
Det Sgt Paul Edmondson of Lancashire Constabulary's Drugs Support Team said that although the leaflet was a hoax, parents and teachers should always be alert to warn children of the dangers of illegal drugs.
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