To think people are naive re cocaine

The employer is the person most likely to be able to consistently afford cocaine. Why would they introduce drug testing knowing that drug use will be rife among senior staff and owners?

I think if you spend a lot of time with people you would either see them doing it (if you meet at their house) or see them coming out of the toilet afterwards. They must be very occasional users.

I know its common I've heard my neighbour and his wife having a screaming match over his cocaine use and I know another guy who's wife chucked him out after he literally blew through their savings on his secret cocaine habit he was staying up late, doing coke while writing electronic music on his laptop while his wife and kids were asleep upstairs thinking it would all be fine once his banging tunes took off and made him famous, pathetic.

I've had cause to go through A&E a lot over my lifetime, working in care and also as a carer/patient. The asking about recreational drugs is now a standard question, for everyone. If you walked into a hospital waiting room and then was in a cubicle, you couldn't have chosen who would say yes, because usage has evened out, in all ages and circumstances.

Well clearly they should not be letting people using drugs hold positions of trust.

I don't know if anyone in my social group does it. They might do but they haven't told me or done it around me. I've never touched the stuff, but I'm well aware of its existence as DH died taking it.

DP has never touched it or any other substance either (teetotal) and I've never used, but I'm well aware I'm in a bubble. I work in victim advocacy and I'd say a good 70% of the perpetrators are known to be using cocaine. More are heavy cannabis users tbh (I'd say nearly 90%) but coke is rife and this is among those living in a very deprived area as far away from white-collar as you could get.

What does that have to do with employers though?

Thanks for the whataboutery @Ponoka7 - all the things you raise are valid but not on topic.

And your example of healthcare workers being on drugs is spot on the reason why random testing should happen.

It’s slack standards to turn a blind eye to it - doesn’t matter if you’re a government, a company or an individual.

Exactly! See this bbc article regarding Amanda Mealing...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g0yzwwj57o

That's interesting because the last time I was in the company of someone who told me he'd just taken coke was in Dublin. It was about 10 years ago because as I said, I don't have (illegal) drug users in my circle of friends.

Oh I agree there's a type, but it's absolutely nothing to do with class

Modern slavery? Like travelling to watch the football in Quatar? Buying a NIKE product? Or getting a brass in on a stag do? Or going to certain venues when in Eastern Europe? There was a thread on the price of chocolate, the profits aren't passed on, so fair enough, but chocolate shouldn't be cheap. Uniqlo, uses child labour and modern day slavery, yet here it is, advertised on a parenting site. We all disassociate when it suits us.
Random drug testing was done in a hospital my DD works in. From the cleaners to the doctors, there were people testing positive. Speed use was rife when I worked in healthcare. I still think that the dismantling of the European route for drugs, so the Afghanistan route could flourish, was quite deliberate.

Sad how normal it actually is, we stopped going to our local because it's rife in there, tipping point was when some silly twat got aggressive just after he'd come out the bogs, because we were 'staring at him' ffs. This was in a normal street pub at 8 in the evening, nope fuck off you scruffy rats.

White collar workers are the biggest customers for purchasing cocaine. 😅 there is an app they can order from, doorstep delivery.

Lucky? As far as I know drug taking is a voluntary choice an individual makes? I've suffered through bad times, been depressed and suicidal. Never found the need to go out and buy drugs.

Plenty of weed among the middle class too.

There's a type. Ignorant and selfish.

You have hit the nail on the head with your first sentence and what the OP was saying - people who take drugs discreetly won't just announce it to all and sundry at work or at school drop off, they will suspect who does it - sort of like when you know, you know . Similar to the famous gaydar back when it was still frowned upon.

It's a taboo subject that no one wants to bring up first, but once someone does then people will be honest. But ,when many people on this thread, say they would never associate with people who take drugs, then your friends, family and acquaintances aren't going to admit that to you are they, so you'll never know.

No they are a ‘type’ but not saying all people who take cocaine are like them - not at all.

There really isn't a "type"...coke users come from all different socioeconomic backgrounds.

This.

I was once in a social circle where it was done.

Since then, I haven't hung around with people who do any drugs (apart from some occasional pot). Different groups are different.

Because responsible people do not take drugs. I don't think it should be every Monday, I think it should be far more random than that to weed out those who shouldn't be trusted.

Young people dying of heart disease caused by drug use. Such a waste.

I said earlier in the thread that I don’t see cocaine in my circles. However I have two exes who are into it and they are a ‘type’ - middle aged football supporters/ex-hooligans and they and their mates are obsessed. I went out with one of them again after not having seen him for thirty years and I told him the next day that I didn’t want to see him again as all he did was talk about cocaine. He appeared shocked and thought he hadn’t. The other one is constantly sniffing but claims he has allergies.

You should get more informed about the bull shit you come out with.
As I mentioned earlier I'm a member of a recovery group, dealing with cocaine as unfortunately I fell into addiction many years ago, and you have a police officer who dealt with multiple people using/selling drugs, yet you're better informed.