High Society (2016)

Ibiza is the world’s greatest party island. And with all the clubbing comes drugs…lots of drugs. In fact, the island is saturated with drugs, with a GTA map full of organised criminals vying for that sweet tourist cash. And just to add to the chaos, you have the season workers, people from across the world who work on the island from May to November, who also love to sell lots, and lots, of drugs. As the season crescendos with its closing parties, VICE’s Tir Dhondy will be getting a rare insight into Ibiza’s criminal underbelly that keeps the island turning.

In this episode of High Society, VICE’s Zach Shucklin heads to Berlin and Amsterdam to learn about 3-MMC’s unique properties, its role in the party scene, and the potential ramifications for its growing popularity.

An estimated half a million men in the UK are addicted to steroids. In fact, the class C drug is the second most used drug after Cannabis. But steroids come with some pretty alarming side effects - from liver and kidney failure as well as mood swings and increased oestrogen which results in men needing breast reduction surgery. In this episode of High Society, we dive into the UK’s steroid epidemic - from the dealers selling it, to the young men getting hooked on it. How dangerous are steroids?

Tulum is experiencing an explosion of people taking Bufo Alvarius. Also called “speed-toading,” it involves smoking the milked poison of the Sonoran Desert toad in a glass pipe and is considered to be the most powerful hallucinogen in the world. Now, growing numbers of psychedelic tourists are traveling to Tulum where Bufo ceremonies are legal, in search of a life-changing experience. However, there are many reports of profoundly negative experiences, lasting psychosis and allegations of sexual assault during ceremonies. VICE’s Matt Shea visits Tulum to see and experience this new Bufo tourism firsthand, to discover whether taking the world’s most powerful hallucinogen is worth the risk.

VICE’s Tir Dhondy explores the hidden world of functioning heroin users who claim to balance their recreational drug use with an otherwise normal lifestyle and asks the question: is it really possible to be a functioning heroin user?