Drugsland - Episode Guide

Sgt Green and PC Spence have a known prolific street dealer in their sights. But the cards are stacked against them in bringing him down.

This episode follows the lives of a couple united in love and a shared heroin habit. Jo and Rich live and sleep in a multistorey car park in central Bristol. They make up to a thousand pounds a week begging, but they spend virtually all of it on feeding their voracious drug habits.

The programme witnesses the council and police joining forces to crack down on begging and rough sleeping. Police officer Mark and council worker Rich are armed with the power of arrest, along with access to the council's support services. This carrot-and-stick approach means Rich and Jo must either accept their offer of rehab or face being split up by being sent to prison.

From the chaos of a burglar who steals every night to the dangers facing street sex workers, a mum in long-term recovery looking after her daughter and the user going into an assisted detox unit, the challenge of breaking free from the shackles of addiction is daunting. And for most, the stakes could not be higher - get clean or face death.

Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire, substance-misuse experts and some recreational drug takers question whether the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act is still fit for purpose.