A 13-YEAR-OLD I KNOW (WHOSE identity I am thinly veiling to preserve his privacy) came back from school the other day and told me that there was a year 9 kid “dealing Prime” at the back of the class. Apparently, this boy was sourcing the Prime from a supplier in London for £2 ($2.40) a unit before selling it on to children who didn’t know any better for eight quid. “Prime” isn’t, as I first thought, a drug but a sports drink in bright plastic bottles promoted by the YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul. Prime Hydration contains coconut water, B vitamins and sweeteners, plus branched-chain amino acids (which are used by bodybuilders to promote muscles), and it comes in lurid flavours including Tropical Punch and Blue Raspberry. Another version of the drink called Prime Energy also contains 200mg caffeine: more than twice as much as a can of Red Bull. A headteacher at a different school reports that older children have been taking empty bottles of Prime, filling them with water and selling them to naive year 7s, who are left in tears when they discover it isn’t the real thing. It seems there is no shortage of 11- to 15-year-old boys prepared to pay £8 for these glorified bottles of squash, which have become a status symbol of sorts. Actually, £8 isn’t even that expensive for Prime, which last year was selling for £19.99 and upwards a bottle at an off-licence in Wakefield known as Wakey Wines, which developed a cult following after customers started filming themselves buying expensive soft drinks there and putting it on TikTok.
Esta historia es de la edición February 24, 2023 de The Guardian Weekly.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición February 24, 2023 de The Guardian Weekly.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Is Paris Ready To Embrace Its Olympic Moment?
In a live television interview from Paris’s Grand Palais – the centrepiece of this year’s Olympic Games, which open on 26 July – Emmanuel Macron set out his ambitions for the country’s athletes in much the same way he might outline a political manifesto.
Can Britons Learn To Love The Idea Of The 'Nanny State'?
Despite detractors, Rishi Sunak’s tobacco bill shows the public will support policies that would once have been thought draconian
Battle Ready How Might New US Aid Change The War?
After months of stalling, the US House of Representatives last weekend approved more than $61bn of military assistance to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia, as well as billions for other allies including Israel and Taiwan.
What are the rules of thumb for buying a quality kitchen knife?
I need anew chef’s knife any recommendations? Nothing too expensive, though.
Keep it reel Clubs drive a celluloid resurgence
A ballooning number of groups dedicated to cinema in its original medium are springing up across the UK. They explain its thrills and challenges
I'm begging world leaders to raise taxes for rich people like me
The need to tax rich people like me has never been so dire. Extreme wealth concentration in the hands of a few oligarchs is a threat to democracy the world over.
Troubled waters
In an unprecedented deal, a private company bought land in an Arizona town - and sold its water rights to a suburb 300km away. Have the floodgates opened for US corporations to cash in on drought?
Melania is back-but she's still not playing by the rules
Her biggest fashion statement as first lady was a green jacket emblazoned with the words, “I really don’t care, do u?” More recently Melania Trump has given the impression that she doesn’t care whether her husband, Donald, returns to the White House. That is about to change.
Poll prejudice In a big voting year, where are all the female candidates?
With more people set to vote in elections than at any time in history, 2024 is being touted as a test of democracies’ strength around the world. But one thing remains in noticeably short supply – female leadership candidates.
The man who helped scores to flee violence in Darfur
Every night, for weeks at a time last year, Saad al-Mukhtar put a small group of people in the back of his Toyota Land Cruiser and drove them under the cover of darkness from his home in the Sudanese city of Geneina across the border and into Chad.