There have been many downloads of press reports - British and Indian - on this saga. A few accounts have reported more details on Scarlett and her family across the continents than the local police could investigate. Yet, some reports give us the sanitized and philosophical feel-good aspects of the story. Goanetters have done a good job of tracking these international press accounts. The likely reason Fiona (mother with 9 kids on British welfare) came on a six-month stay to Goa, and now wants to come permanently, is because her welfare checks go a lot farther in Goa than in Devon, England. With her checks, and as a cheap tourist, she likely figures she could even afford a native nanny to take care of her brood - Not dissimilar to the colonial British. And like other hippies in Goa, she may even make some money by subletting her shelter, providing food, etc etc. to other hippies. Unlike the authorities in England, the laissez-faire system in Goa, (which she abhors), would not be on her back, and that of her kids, to live within the law. The issue raised several times in many press articles is: Who killed Scarlet (and few other hippies). The short answer, in response to public pressure, is some native miscreants. Yet, I submit the Anjuna / Goan police, (including Inspector Nelson Albuquerque), who have been accused of sloppy police work, have figured the answer to this question a long time ago. The hippies kill themselves!!! Likely the local British consulate also may have arrived to the same conclusion, and no longer pursue these fatalities. The purpose of writing this article is to bring to the attention of Goans, the effect of drugs and alcohol, as the same chain-of-events can happen to non-hippies. In fact Goans and Indians, whose liver can less effectively metabolize alcohol than 'Whites', may be more prone to this chain of events. Also the way alcohol is absorbed and metabolized, it affects women more than men, and older men more than younger men. This is important, as many vacation-packages include an unlimited supply of food and drinks as an incentive deal. Many chronic alcohol users have replaced protein and good carbohydrates, as their source of calories, with alcohol. Chronic alcohol use (approved and illicit) affects the stomach, liver, brain among other organs. Reading Tom Rawstorne's article on Scarlett's life and death in the Daily Mirror, the chain of events on that fateful night reads: First the victim consumed "a frightening cocktail of drinks and drugs - LSD, Ecstasy and Cocaine" at her newly-acquired boy-friend Julio's home. The boy-friend became sick and decided to stay home for the night. Scarlett leaves Julio and goes to the home of a Dutch girl - Ruby - who at 16-yrs is only one year older than the victim. The two have a few more "Bacardi Breezers" along with Beers and Tequila - drinking them in their taxi and in at least two bars. According to Ruby, the two girls were "quite drunk". In her prior encounters with the victim, Ruby describes her as "smoking cannabis night and day and often looked stone". Looks like Ruby, concerned about her own violations of Goa's laws, is now living in Spain. The victim leaves Ruby's house and heads to the beach-bar "drinking, snorting cocaine in the lounge and kitchen and talking gibberish." This is likely the victim's last night on the town in Goa as she is soon joining her mother and leaving for home due to her brother's accident in England. Now two Goan guys enter the picture. In the dim bar light, and high themselves on alcohol and drugs, forget to ask the drunk-victim for her ID (to know her age). Like young men all over the world, they provide her more alcohol and cocaine in exchange for sex (or the reverse). Alcohol has a well know effect on humans: "Increases the sexual desire but knocks out the performance". It appears the drunks repeatedly try to do what they cannot achieve. At some point the Goans give up and head home - very likely not knowing what to do with their mate. So what killed Scarlet and how did she die? Answer: Multiple organ failure. Since I am no forensic expert, here is a down load from the web on Cocaine. Please web search the effects of other drugs and alcohol. What Are Cocaine's Effects? The facts about cocaine, what it does to a user: Initial Lift Cocaine, which acts quickly, causes initially a sense of well being and self-confidence, a surge of great physical strength and mental alertness, a feeling of being more than equal to any task or challenge. The user is wide awake, feels himself fueled to think, talk, act and work. He does all of these rather compulsively. He is "speeding." The Crash A cocaine "lift" is short-lived, however. The peak lasts only 15 to 30 minutes, although lesser effects continue up to 2 to 4 hours. After this comes what they call the "crash," which is marked by: raw nerves, physical weakness, a feeling of gloom, all coming in a quick sudden, just as quickly as the "lift" or "speed" had come. The user is easily irritated, gets bad-tempered, sulks or gets restless, even becomes violent. Mental Breakdown Heavy doses cause unclear speech, confused thinking, short temper, unease and tension, all signs of an impaired mind. When abused, it leads to social, intellectual and emotional breakdown, marked by mental instability, serious psychotic states and long-term personality disorders. A sudden "crash" or withdrawal can also trigger such mental imbalance. Overworked Heart Cocaine speeds up action of the heart, which gets overworked and results in: rapid breathing, soaring blood pressure, palpitations, sweating, severe headache, pallor and, sometimes, heart failure and death. It also numbs the tongue, causes the mouth to dry. LSD-Type Toxicity A cocaine user easily falls victim to LSD-type toxicity, with all the dangers in an LSD toxicity seizure. Signs of cocaine toxicity are: rapid heart beat, dilated pupils, stomach cramps, nausea, convulsions, vomiting. Terrifying hallucinations and delusions usually attend cocaine overdose; death can occur. Unwitting Over-Exertion Grandiose feelings of super physical and mental prowess, as previously stated, are among cocaine's initial effects on a user. While such "lift" feelings yield great physical and mental work, they unhappily have led users to over-estimate their actual capabilities and collapse in physical exhaustion or break down mentally. ----------- In summary, the mind-altering drugs (including alcohol) is a dangerous mix, causing a cascading and amplifying series of events which depresses respiration, causes irregular heart beats, liver failure and brain death. If the victims vomits, he / she can suffocate / aspirate their own vomit. Or as has been alleged, Scarlett may have been too intoxicated to appreciate or do anything about the rising tide. Kind Regards, GL ------------- Gabe Menezes' download The land where the hippy trail reaches a historic impasse: Adventurous travellers have found many things in Goa. Innocent escape was never one of them. Ian Jack - The Guardian, Saturday March 15 2008 The lost, the damaged and the crooked were already there and stumbling about. It was to an even darker scene that Fiona MacKeown brought her family in November last year: a woman born of an age which has somehow forgotten to teach both caution and curiosity, in the belief - not shared by Burton, Waugh and Greene - that apart from the weather everywhere is much the same.
