- A computer game in which players "use" crack
cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis to give themselves a "power boost"
was condemned last night as irresponsible by anti-drugs campaigners.
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- Critics said the game, called Narc, would glamorise
drug-taking
and undermine respect for the police, who are depicted in the game as
taking
the drugs to help them to catch criminals.
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- In the game, which will be released in the United States
this week and in Britain in May, the players are elite undercover narcotics
officers whose aim is to eliminate an international drugs cartel.
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- Two police characters take drugs from the dealers and
can use them to give themselves a "power boost" to help them
to face "tough challenges" in their work.
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- A spokesman for Sony Playstation in London said: "If
an officer finds himself in an extremely difficult or dangerous situation,
say surrounded by violent enemies, he can take drugs and that can give
him the power to take them on and win."
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- Each drug has a different effect. If the officer takes
a digital ecstasy tablet, for example, it creates a mellow atmosphere that
can pacify aggressive enemies.
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- An electronic puff of marijuana temporarily slows the
action of the game like a sports action-replay. The use of crack
momentarily
makes the player a top marksman - a "crack" shot.
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- The aim of the game, which can be played by one or more
players on a Playstation or Xbox console, is to "bust" drug
dealers
until they capture the "Mr Big" of the underworld
hierarchy.
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- Dr Ken Checinski, a senior lecturer at St George's
hospital
medical school in south London, who is an authority on addictive behaviour,
said: "I don't approve of a game that has people taking drugs.
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- "There is a risk that it will glamorise drug-taking
and send out the wrong message to young, impressionable people. It could
also send out a dangerous moral message - that two wrongs make a right:
corrupt officers take illicit drugs while working and it helps them to
arrest criminals.
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- "We want young people to understand the real risk
of drug-taking and games such as this don't help."
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- A spokesman for Drugscope, an anti-drugs charity, said:
"It is totally wrong to suggest that people can do their jobs better
while under the influence of drugs.
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- "It may happen in sport, with steroids for example,
but that is totally different and the idea of police performing better
on crack cocaine is ridiculous and gives the wrong information to young
people."
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- Sony defended the game, which will receive an 18
classification.
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- "It's a classic good versus evil game that shows
the destructive power of drugs," a spokesman said.
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- A spokesman for Midway, Narc's publisher, said:
"This
subject is something that nobody else has tackled in computer games and
we felt it was time to do it."
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
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- http://www.telegraph.co.uk
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