To think people are naive re cocaine

Well I’m a professional in London and never done, been offered or seen anyone else do cocaine, and DH has never done it either (regular drug testing for his work, he gets nervous going to the states and inhaling too much second hand weed smoke!!)

So it’s not common in all circles, but yes it is in others, not exactly ground breaking insight, do you think you’re enlightening the older folk, the ones who were going out in the 80s and 90s?!

@Knockonw00d geniunely do you consider taking cocaine to be fun and risk free?

It 100% makes people an arse-hole when snorting.
I deeply regret taking cocaine 20 years ago, I'm glad to be alive.

Yes it’s very common across society but people don’t seem to be linking it to the increase in poor mental health. I just don’t get why it’s not being discussed.

OP - when I was in my 20s, loads of my mates and colleagues did cocaine in the recreational way you suggest. It didn't seem to impact their lives much. As we got older, some continued, but most stopped because, past a certain age, it actually does start to negatively affect your life if you are taking drugs all the time (especially with the responsibilities of family and children). Several developed such bad habits that they destroyed their lives, a couple are now 'clean and sober' through addiction programmes. A couple of others are still using and also using prostitutes, cheating on partners and living in a generally disgusting way that I don't think any self-respecting woman should condone. So, I think it depends on life stage, circumstances and what it means to 'use'. My DH used to do a bit of coke recreationally in his late 20s/early 30s, and I know if he is having a big weekend away with his mates, he probably will do a few lines — he is absolutely destroyed nowadays after these trips, and if this were a regular occurrence, we would not be able to stay married. Certainly, if he were regularly spending hundreds of our family pounds on drugs and getting himself in such a state he was checked out of family life, I'd be saying bye bye.

How it effects someone though is both personal and can change as well it isn’t even the same each time for an individual either

behavioural changes are very likely to either be drugs or an affair

but yes you do still seem naive as to exactly what regular cocaine use can do

I agree, it is very common behaviour across a very wide range of people in terms of demographics. What I always wonder is why don’t more people suffer from a rotting septum?

Except this is debated to the death and the evidence to support this assertion is poor.

All that happens is the dealers and importers undercut the legit sources. They already have the extensive distribution networks and ability to enforce them.

The makers of the drugs will just have two profitable arms - the governments they will sell to and the existing black market - and make even more money.

In my workplace, cocaine use is frequently alluded to by the founders of the company. Their behaviour disgusts me, they can also be aggressive picks, so yes it does effect people s behaviours and brains. Arrogant, egotistical bullies.

Its sad, that it has become so normalised.

I’m in my fifties and mix in very professional circles and up until about 5 years ago they all did (me and dh very much in the minority for not) but most of them now are tee total and swapped alcohol and coke for marathons. Most of those people were fine but a few of them literally couldn’t go without it in any social situation, and it just made everyone so dull.

i do agree it’s every where though but I don’t think it has the coolness associated with taking drugs by who take it at all. It’s like vaping for grown ups (but more expensive and boring… and illegal of course).

You are wrong about it not affecting behaviour. Casual use less so but frequent use definitely. I’ve seen it myself in habitual users but have a quick google and see for yourself.

I saw on a programmes that cold water swimming gives the exact same high to your body, except this lasts for 9 hours as opposed to 20 mins.

It’s also free!!

That doesn't mean anything other than that you are living the same kind of lifestyle as druggies.

I'm confident that very few, if any, of my circle do drugs. Most of them barely drink or are completely tee-total and I've heard them talk disparagingly about drug use. I wouldn't be friends with someone I knew did Coke.

I have observed strangers at social events who I suspect are doing it though. And used to have one friend who I'm sure did some kind of recreational drugs at raves.

Doubtless it's more common than people think though.

If you go to garden centres you will find a lot of gardeners and if you go to bars then you will find a lot of cocaine users.

Quite a lot of people take drugs of various sorts in their teens and 20s. Some continue to take them and others move on unscathed.

Cocaine has a reputation as a middle class drug but I think that is bollocks. I think it is popular across the classes. Scaffolders are notorious for it.

I do know that it’s everywhere on nights out. I don’t go on nights out so I don’t see it.

I work in an industry where everyone is drugs tested, so I just don’t see it professionally either.

I realise I’m in the minority, but you would wonder what is coming down the track in a few years with this. You are absolutely correct that it is very prevalent.

I'm in my mid 40, working in tech in London and originally from Paris. Drugs are ubiquitous around me, whether it's in London or Paris.
Not just cocaine, but also speed, mdma...
Im an occasional consumer myself, maybe 6 or 7 times a year in parties / raves

I started a similar thread on here a couple of years ago.

Nothing has changed. MN still innocent in regards who around them commonly has a bump or two.

It’s rife, but it’s been rife for YEARS!

The town and area in grew up in (south-east) - I was routinely offered it at pubs, clubs and house parties through the 90’s/00’s along with E, MDMA and cannabis (and a few years of dodgy powders from China). Almost everyone I knew who was out and about at these places did it. More people ‘grew out of it’ once they had kids, but certainly not all, some still doing it today, even those with teenagers / adult kids who they think don’t know they do it (they do!).
These days most younger people just buy it on the dark web - it’s like Amazon for whatever shit you want…

By no means does everyone do it, but if you are out socialising around alcohol, live music, raving, festivals etc, then you will be around it!

(Personally have zero interest in it and haven’t got many years - I also can’t square the circle of the sheer amount of damage it does to whole countries and people in other parts of the world😞).

Ironically it’s often the so called blue collar jobs that have random drug testing (my son’s does) while the people in ‘good professional jobs’ are left to it. Maybe they people in poncey jobs don’t really do anything important.

As the child of a former cocaine addict, I can confirm it does change personality/behaviour.

I've been a paramedic for 20 years, with the exception of severely mentally ill patients, the only times i have been truely scared, alone in the back of the ambulance with a patient has been when they had taken cocaine. It might be a common drug but it brings out a really horrible and scary side in a lot of people (male and female).

Maybe it is common in twenty/ thirty somethings who go out clubbing every week but I can assure you it is not common in 50 somethings who like to stay home and watch Strictly with their cat.

This is the value of believing your own experience of life to be universal.