£500 a month on cocaine?

[namechange101321]

Can someone tell me if this is a lot in terms of recreational cocaine usage?

I've just discovered H is spending this much on cocaine a month. He says he's fine and it's part and parcel of working in banking in London and it's just recreational but I feel like it sounds like a lot?! More than recreational/occasional usage and moving in to addiction territory...?!

He is tee-total, faithful, likes to exercise.. so this is his only 'vice' but I don't want it getting out of control.

I'm a complete novice and know nothing about cocaine so if someone could provide some insight I'd be grateful!

Have name changed for this, obviously.

[ItsJustTheOneSwanActually]

hmm...I worked in investment banking in London for 15 years and managed not to take it at all

I mean, it went on, but it wasn't part and parcel. That sounds like a lot of minimising to me.

[FilledSoda]

All for his own personal use or to share?
It's not much , coke is really expensive.
I'd be worried about it being a regular / long term thing though, that suggests dependency .

[namechange101321]

I think you're right @ItsJustTheOneSwanActually my H is certainly minimising ☹️ but I don't know how big of a problem he has. I don't mind anyone dabbling I'm occasional drug use but £500 a month sounds excessive, although I could be wrong as I have no idea how much £500 buys or how long it should last etc.

[PotteringAlong]

£6k a year on class A drugs sounds like a lot to me.

[AnyFucker]

Is anyone seriously this naive ?

[knackpease]

It is a significant amount and likely to be causing him long term health problems. The benefits he gets from exercising & being tee total will be extinguished by regular cocaine use.

[namechange101321]

@FilledSoda all on his own 😳 We live in Centra London, I don't know if prices are a regional thing and it's very expansive here as opposed to somewhere else in the UK and also if dealers know people like my H are good for the money so rip them off.

[Ceeeeeelia]

Erm - nothing to do with working in banking in London. Most of us manage to get through the day without putting things up our nose.

[HollowTalk]

OP, I agree with AnyFucker. Are you really that naive? While you might not know how much it costs, surely you know that £500 per month is a lot? It would be a lot if you were buying perfume or shoes or alcohol or chocolates - why do you think it might not be a lot of cocaine? You know it's not something only millionaires can buy.

I couldn't be doing with him taking any at all, but spending £500 on it and minimising it? No way.

[namechange101321]

@AnyFucker I haven't posted in AIBU, I'm posting in Addiction support so please be gentle.

[ChainVaper]

Ok..... a gram of coke is about £100 for fairly decent stuff in London so that’s a gram and a quarter a week which tbh isn’t a lot at all in terms of consumption. On a night out you could do a half to one gram alone ( more too but I never have!) so it doesn’t sound like he’s a daily user- think £350-£500 a week would be more the figure then. Keep an eye on it for it getting any more frequent.

[RLOU30]

Depending on the quality £500 worth is anything from 5-10 grams a month so let’s say he is using 1.5 grams a week- that’s roughly 15 lines a week.

[flossietoot]

Sounds all a bit sad to be honest. What are your next steps going to be?? Do you have kids?

[Ohyesiam]

Tell him to demonstrate it’s not a worrying amount by not doing any for a month.

[firehousedog1]

That's a lot to be spending on recreational drugs yes. You could have a bloody good holiday on that money and still loads leftover.

[psicat]

"Ohyesiam

Tell him to demonstrate it’s not a worrying amount by not doing any for a month."

👆 This. I recently did this with my OH (booze not coke). He got extremely defensive, had a strop, muttered for several days and generally shocking behaviour. I ignored it. After a week, he has admitted maybe he needs to cut back and has swapped to alcohol free beers with just occasionally drinking if with mates or his dad.

£500 is a) a lot of money,
b) even if means "only" doing a gram/1.5g, it is still that much every week/month - that there is a habit
and c) it is of course illegal. What happens if he got a criminal conviction?

I've done enough things in my misspent youth so am not naive in this but it has to be take seriously - the police are more after the dealers usually but they will take action on a user occasionally.

[namechange101321]

Thanks everyone. H seems very nonchalant about it all and says he can stop at any time so I suggested we open a joint bank account so I can see where all the money is coming and going and keep an eye on things to which he agreed. I'm a SAHM with 2 small DC for those asking.

[glintandglide]

Anyfucker don’t be cruel.

OP- honest question- why does this worry YOU? Sounds like you can afford it.

You say he’s teetotal. That’s quite unusual for a city party animal and IME quite unusual for someone to take coke without alcohol at all. Is he doing it whilst socialising in the evenings?

[Usernumbers1234]

Anyfucker just go back to relationships and get your thrills there like usual.

This is addiction support for someone trying to gather information, if you can’t help, go away.

[AsleepAllDay]

That's at least 4-5 purchases a week, unless he gets big rocks at a time. Otherwise, yes that's a lot. He's not a social sniffer, or an occasional taster, he sounds addicted

[AsleepAllDay]

And it's £2k a month that could be savings, holiday money, expensive clothes, meals out etc. Sounds like it's a priority for him

[Enb76]

That's at least 4-5 purchases a week, unless he gets big rocks at a time

Bollocks - even when I was doing coke (over 10 years ago) a gram cost £60 and a gram was about one night out. So maybe he's doing it 5 or 6 times a month if it's on nights out, I guess I was doing as much and I never got addicted.