REVIEW – SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Supply and Demand is a two-DVD set and bulging resource wallet, aimed at young people over 13 and adults, targeting all drugs.  DVD One contains a half-hour mock TV programme, vox-pop sessions and lively comment on the drug scene.  Characters in a TV studio deliver scripted dialogue while the “programme” is interlaced with real interviews, the visuals being provided by superb puppets.

Amusing dialogue is peppered with points for discussion, while serious issues arise more obviously in the real-life interviews.  A toe-curling spoof “drugs will kill you” scene was shot with real pupils.  Annoyingly, the “scene selection” function only selects interviews, not the more comic “studio” footage.  However, issues raised (cost, dangers, myths, “hard” versus “soft”, political responses and so on) beg for audience intervention.

Niggles are that serious points may be hard to pick out from the larger-than-life delivery of the puppets, and the mildly smutty language may be too much for some, though youth workers are less likely to baulk.  DVD Two, “a training resource for drug educators”, contains reference material, a series of real-life interviews and harm reduction footage, thought the drug data and harm reduction advice are both somewhat inadequate.  The resource wallet materials, including six detailed Year 10 lesson plans, are flexible and informed.