PRESS RELEASE 25/02/2013 Ballingdon Mill, Sudbury, Suffolk.

Art gets high in Gainsborough country An artists retreat in Sudbury, Suffolk has launched its flagship residency for 2013 which will focus on aeronautics in the Suffolk landscape. To mark the launch retreat artist Lara Garcia Reyne edited short films with the National Police Air Service crew at Wattisham Airfield. They show how thermal imagery is used to evidence hidden cannabis farms. East Anglia has a long history of drug cultivation; according to folklore the wild poppies that bloom each year are relics of opium production dating back to Gainsborough and Constables time. Police Air Observer, Sgt Julian Bosley said Each year we get the best view of East Anglias wild poppies from the helicopter. The greatest risk to growers then was the same as it is for dealers now, which is developing an unfortunate appetite for the product. Police statistics, and personal experience demonstrate habitual drug use leads to crime. Contrary to television and movie glamour drug related law enforcement is a sad side of our business; we all have friends whose lives have been affected by drugs. Project commissioner Theodore Bird said: We are grateful to the Police air crew for working with Lara. In 2010 I had to decommission a small cannabis farm from the main house at Ballingdon Mill making this study all the more relevant. He added I too have friends whose lives have been impacted by drugs. Help and support is available. NOTES Film by Lara Garcia Reyne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0i74WFZNS8 Photographs: http://bit.ly/YrhWmN The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is a police aviation service that provides centralised air support to the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. Ballingdon Mill is an artists retreat in Sudbury, Suffolk. When not in use it is available for short breaks. www.ballingdonmill.co.uk. Suggested link at end of story: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/drugs/Pages/Drugtreatment.aspx Press contact: Theodore Bird, bird.t@me.com, +447711 747334