Journalist Amber Haque investigates how social media’s algorithms are driving a growing dangerous and deadly market for illegal diet drugs that is going unregulated and inadequately policed.
Amber meets people who felt pressurised to take illegal drugs they found online, with devastating consequences for their health. In Birmingham, she meets Ellie who was prescribed phentermine at a private weight loss clinic, an addictive drug banned by the NHS. In Norfolk, she meets 21 year old Sam who injects himself with Melanotan 2, also known as the Barbie drug. Sam explains he is prepared to take the risk of using it despite its potential link to cancer and melanoma. In Worcestershire, she meets the parents of Beth who died after taking DNP as a weight loss drug, a poison known in body building circles as a shredder drug.
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