FRANK (drugs)

FRANK is the United Kingdom government's national anti-drug campaign. The campaign was established in 2003 and is principally aimed at teenagers. It is advertised and promoted through TV, radio, and the web.

It contains statements such as "Heroin comes as a white powder when it's pure (diamorphine), such as that used by doctors. Owing to the range of substances it's cut with, street heroin can be anything from brownish white to brown.". . Other sources describe brown heroin as being brown due to being a base substance that is less refined than white heroin, and not having anything to do with what it is cut with.

Service
FRANK provides the following services for people who seek information and/or advice about drugs


 * A confidential phoneline that is available 24 hours a day
 * Email
 * A confidential automated chatterbot for Live Messenger, the Talk to Frank bot
 * A service to locate counselling and treatment

Criticism
FRANK has also been accused of presenting misleading, and in some cases entirely false, information about drugs. One example occurred in 2007 when the site had to remove an article entitled "Cannabis Explained" after several groups pointed out glaring errors in the information presented. Transform Drug Policy Foundation criticised FRANK's campaign on cocaine on the basis that the harms depicted in the advert are a result of prohibition rather than the drug itself.