In what sounds like a plot from a William Burroughs novel, the anthrax-tainted heroin found earlier in Germany and Scotland has now reached London, authorities told BBC News:

A heroin user in London has tested positive for anthrax, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has announced.

The case is the first in England linked to the Class A drug, but follows the deaths of nine users in Scotland from anthrax infection.

The HPA said the unnamed user was being treated in a London hospital and that other drug users in the capital should be “extremely alert to the risks.”

Not to in any way make light of the subject but the advice of the HPA for addicts to “cease taking heroin” is farcical. Clearly they’ve never met any real junkies, because a junkie is, by his or her very nature, already inclined to do things to their bodies without much regard for the consequences. An addict will happily jab a needle into their arm if there is only a small chance of the smack being tainted. If the chances become greater, well guess what, they’ll still shoot up. They need to actively set up mobile emergency methadone centers quickly in areas where smack users acquire heroin or else more people are going to die.

Anthrax found in London heroin user (BBC News)