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Ministry Bows Out With Pill Monkey Special

Author: Jonty Adderley
Sunday, November 24, 2002
Ministry magazine's final issue appeared in shops this week with a cover article about ecstasy use in England, headlined "Are You A Pill Monkey-"

"Remember when two or three Es was a big weekend-" the article began.

"How quaint! On an average Friday night these days, one sub-species of person will have necked (swallowed) that, plus the rest, before the most of the rest of us have finished eating our crispy pancakes in front of Top of the Pops" (ie 8pm).

Ironically, the 15 pills a night expose' was exactly the kind of article Ministry's media boss Mark Rodol criticised when he announced the magazine was shutting down last month, to be replaced by a new title with a different editorial emphasis.

"It (the new magazine) will be about global youth culture as opposed to taking pills in a nightclub in the north of England," Rodol told the Guardian.

"Dance music has shifted. Even though we were still making £500,000 a year on the magazine, I didn't want to go on producing a product that doesn't reflect the (Ministry Of Sound) brand."

According to the last issue of Ministry, the replacement mag will be called Ministry Of Sound and will be appearing 'next year'. Whether its coverage of cocaine changes will also be interesting, since Ministry has frequently courted controversy when writing about the seriously illegal class A drug.

"Has anyone else noticed how the ink in Bic Biros absolutely reeks of coke (and we don't mean the fizzy stuff, either)" they ask on page 32 of the last issue.

"Or is it just us-"
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