It's one of London's busiest streets where hordes of bustling executives on six-figure salaries race past to catch their trains back to the Home Counties every day.
asserted
hordes → bustle → Counties
But while countless numbers of those passengers will pop into the nearby bars and restaurants for post-work refreshment, for the scruffily dressed man sitting on the pavement subsistence is the furthest thing from his mind.
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subsistence → pop → mind
Instead he appears intent on filling the stubby pipe he is holding, carefully sliding the contents of a paper wrap into its business end, tamping it down and then fumbling to find a lighter to ignite his workings before inhaling deeply – and then slumping over, now barely conscious.
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he → appear → workings
The footage of this sordid moment on London's Victoria Street was filmed in the early evening this week when the area was teeming with life.
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area → film → life
Welcome to the grim new reality of London's druggy underbelly, where the new substance of choice is the synthetic cannabinoid known by the street name Spice.
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substance → welcome → name
The class-B drug, notorious for turning users almost instantly into so-called 'zombies', was originally synonymous with the socially troubled inner cities of the US, before arriving in Europe as the drug of choice in Britain's prisons.
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drug → turn → prisons
Spice is the new substance of choice for many of London's rough sleepers, a class-B drug notorious for turning users almost instantly into so-called 'zombies'
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Spice → turn → zombies
In central London, Spice is used regularly by rough sleepers and can be purchased for as little as £3
At Grosvenor Gardens, a mixed group of male and female rough sleepers were spotted climbing over the fence after closing hours to use the benches within as a drug den (Pictured: Unidentified sleepers near Lower Grosvenor Gardens)
And the reason is that despite its potency, enough Spice for a pipe like that we saw being consumed in London's commuter district can be purchased for as little as £3.
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we → use → 3
On patrol around Westminster this week we saw it being used widely.
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it → see → Westminster
In nearby Grosvenor Gardens, for instance, we witnessed a mixed group of male and female rough sleepers climb over the fence after closing hours to use the benches within as a drug den.
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group → witness → den
Once inside, they loaded similar-looking pipes and took turns smoking from it.
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they → load → it
Almost immediately one man was hunched over, seemingly unable to move, as the effects of the drug took hold.
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effects → hunch → hold
Further on we saw two men slumped in a pub doorway after an apparent hit, while two others paced about slowly as though possessed – the manner of which has led to the zombie-like comparison.
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manner → see → comparison
Many of those in the grip of the problem are strongly resistant to attempts to help them and will often respond angrily or simply back away from offers of a secure and clean bed for the night.
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Many → help → night
Claire Dunn, from public protection at Westminster Council, said the problem with Spice is exacerbated by the fact that it's so extraordinarily cheap – less than a cup of coffee.
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it → say → coffee
'People can get a small amount for around £3,' she said.
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she → get → 3
'And if there's a group of them and they can muster £30 they can often buy it more cheaply still because dealers will sell larger quantities for less.
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dealers → be → less
'That means the supply-and-demand cycle just perpetuates itself.'
The effects can be horrific, she says.
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she → mean → itself
'You see people slumped on the floor.
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people → see → floor
Sometimes we have seen people who have urinated or defecated on themselves because they have lost control of their bodily functions.
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they → see → functions
'Sometimes people look as though they are not breathing.
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they → look → ?
They are not moving and they are not communicating.'
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they → move → ?
The Daily Mail joined Westminster Council members, enforcement specialists and outreach workers on a walk through Victoria to see the problem first-hand.
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Mail → join → problem
Even before the patrol began, the scale of the challenge was impossible to miss.
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scale → begin → challenge
A woman was spotted squatting against the side of Westminster City Hall, using the council's own headquarters as a toilet before wandering away in an apparent daze.
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woman → spot → daze
Just yards away, another rough sleeper was dozing in a tent directly outside the building.
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sleeper → doze → building
'When you don't tackle things quickly, they fester,' Councillor Caroline Sargent, Westminster's deputy leader and cabinet member for enforcement.
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Sargent → tackle → enforcement
'That is why we are trying to do something about this.'
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we → try → this
Ms Sargent said Conservative-run Westminster is trying to tackle homelessness but often encounters reluctance from the very people they are trying to help.
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they → say → people
She said: 'Around Victoria, for example, there is a cohort of people with very complex needs, often involving addiction, who have been offered a great deal of support.
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who → say → support
'Some repeatedly refuse that support and remain on the street, where we see antisocial behaviour including public defecation, urination and open drug use.
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we → refuse → defecation
'That has a real impact on residents and businesses.
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That → have → residents
What we want people to understand is that this is not always simply a homelessness problem.
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this → want → What
Some of the people involved actually have accommodation available to them, including hostel places.'
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Some → involve → places
As the patrol moved towards nearby Grosvenor Gardens, several men were slumped against a wall appearing to smoke drugs.
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men → move → drugs
Council enforcement officers approached to check what was happening and one of them threw their paraphernalia over the fence into locked gardens.
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one → approach → gardens
The problem with Spice, according to a representative from Westminster Council, is its low price - with it costing less than a cup of coffee
One rough sleeper, 31, originally from Bedford, gave a harrowing account of his experience as a Spice user.
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sleeper → accord → user
He told us: 'When I can't even muster a few quid I've often sat on the pavement scavenging up bits of Spice and ash just so I can smoke whatever is left.
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whatever → tell → Spice
That's how desperate it gets.
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it → get → ?
I've been so desperate for it that dignity just disappears.
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dignity → disappear → it
…and 42 more, not listed.
The Aporia
