To ask what are your opinions on social cocaine use?

[sshroom]

I am finding that it is becoming more acceptable to use cocaine socially.

Friends and people that I know take it at weekends, at parties, bars or clubs and sometimes on a night in with friends and a bottle of wine.

These people are teachers, sahms, childcare workers, administrators, financial advisors and social workers so a real mix.

Is it becoming more socially acceptable? Would you have a problem if your friend did it occasionally?

I agree that too much cannabis turns people into sloths.

agree with TinyTear @ Tue 16-Sep-14 13:40:35

"not acceptable, same with weed, also not acceptable

and I don't even like people drinking to excess

and yes, I do think less of people i know who take/have taken drugs"

Numanoid I know someone who smokes weed, a lot, for over 20 years. I have never met a more paranoid person in my life. Its shocking the crap she comes out with whereas it would never enter a 'normal' persons head.

My cousin used to smoke a lot too, he was also incredibly paranoid. He also started on harder stuff. His personality changed. Luckily he stopped it all and he isn't a twat any more but weed certainly does do damage if smoked long term.

Numanoid two of my four flatmates at uni got cannabis related psychological disorders. Do you know anyone that died taking MDMA or is being treated for coke addiction?

Apart from the news reports, I did know 2 people who have died after taking MDMA, yes. One accidentally killed herself, the other I'm not sure of the exact details, but apparently they had her in an ice bath before she died to try to save her... not sure what that would be in aid of, I'm afraid.

I don't know anyone who is being treated for cocaine addiction, just a friend who stopped taking it due to feeling the need to take it rather than just wanting to, and spending so much on it.

I'm not advocating cannabis use, just don't mind if other people want to use it. :)

"Cocaine is highly addictive, MDMA can kill you the first, third, or hundredth time you take it depending on whether you take a dodgy pill or not, and LSD-induced hallucinations can cause you to, albeit accidentally, seriously harm or kill yourself."

You say all that as if you actually know them to be true. They are mostly myth and propaganda.

Cocaine - Definitely not as addictive as it is rumoured to be. The vast majority of its 813,000 users in the UK are not physically addicted to it and use it recreationally - i.e. when partying.

MDMA (ecstasy) - It is a myth that there is any significant chance of dying from a single MDMA pill. Over a million MDMA tablets are consumed in the UK every weekend, and that has been going on since early 1980s. There were 517,000 MDMA users in the UK as of 2009. There have only been a handful of deaths where MDMA use was cited as a possible cause, and not a definitive one especially considering that multiple drugs and alcohol were often used by these people on the same night. In comparison, hundreds of people die every year in the UK from adverse reactions to aspirin.

LSD - I suppose it is possible to eat a whole sheet of LSD and throw yourself off a building, but that is definitely not the sort of feeling or visual hallucination that LSD produces in normal doses. There are 59,000 LSD users in the UK. When was the last time you heard of anyone managing to harm or kill himself because they were too high on LSD?

I am definitely not advocating the use of recreational drugs (although don't really care if anyone does) and I don't use them myself, but people here really need to know what they are talking about a little better.

Oh and FWIW I grew up in Devon, I moved back here a few weeks ago.

Tis pretty normal in my circles, yes. I prefer weed though. :)

I agree Cote, most people going by this thread clearly have no idea whatsoever about cocaine and it's users.

Oh and have never coke myself - scared of the cardiovascular risk.

Horrible drug. But then I don't take any drugs - not these days.

I think cocaine is pretty addictive actually and I do believe there's no such thing as 'one line'. There really isn't. If there's some around then users will use until there's none left. That's a fact. I speak, by the way, not from conjecture but experience. These days coffee is about as exciting as it gets for me but in the last year I've seen a (no longer) close friend go back to cocaine and now her life lies in tatters and she's reduced to dealing to maintain her habit. That's pretty shit IMO.

What other people get up to is their business, though I'd rather not be around people who do coke as it can make them twats, I have done it rarely myself usually in the bedroom. If a friend was doing it, it wouldn't bother me unless their behaviour was off.

When I was a clubber I only ever met two who didnt do drugs, so it did seem a normal thing to do, though coke wasn't the drug of choice. I actually dont have a clue wether the people around me do coke, I dont know them well enough to ask.

You say all that as if you actually know them to be true. They are mostly myth and propaganda.

I know it's just my word on this, however I'm not wanting to say much more for not wanting to out myself, but it is true, unfortunately. Or so says forensic analysis (which has so far has been quite trustworthy).

In my dim and distant past i have tried most drugs at least once , including cocaine and heroin . Not a mad keen fan of any of them TBH . I remember years and years ago , going to a club and watching as a stone cold sober /drug free person the people off their heads on a variety of drugs and do you know what ? they were so dull and ridiculous looking that i went off to the cloakroom to discuss books with the bloke minding the coats

What "forensic analysis", Numanoid? I gave you the facts and figures about cocaine, MDMA, and LSD and all you have to say in return is "forensic analysis"?

What "forensic analysis", Numanoid? I gave you the facts and figures about cocaine, MDMA, and LSD and all you have to say in return is "forensic analysis"?

The forensic analysis of the drugs which are lifted from people. MDMA itself may not be particularly risky, for example, but so many things are cut in with it these days it has become particularly dangerous.
I just don't think it's worth the risk. I wouldn't want anyone to have to attend the scene of a young person who has died from taking one of these drugs.

I know there are many other ways a person can die, but taking recreatrional drugs is, to me, an unnecessary risk.

Not saying I think your opinion is invalid at all, Cote, just that experience has made me very wary of most drugs.

How can people use coke when it causes so much misery and violence in the world? HERE is a BBC article on Mexican drug cartels . It sickens me. Don't people care or are they just having too much fun to care. Violence, kidnapping, land mines, terrorist groups? Is it really worth it?

I thought about attaching some images of the murder victims to this post but thought better of it. I dare any cocaine users to google image something like 'Mexican drug cartel murders'

I know alcohol causes lots of misery too but at least it doesn't have quite the same links with violent organised crime.

I personally wouldn't want to be friends with anyone who did cocaine, I just don't like it. It changes peoples personalities and makes perfectly nice people act like twats. I've seen perfectly placid laid people become violent and aggressive after they've "done a line". It's not for me, though I agree that more people seem to be openly doing it these days.

On coke, I am quite clear in my own mind that it is a vile industry and we should starve it of cash by never taking coke. Not impressed by ppl saying that it is no worse than buying an iPad. Of course it is, you know that really. And actually many of us do buy fair trade, keep a sharp eye on apple, avoid Primark, etc.

As for damage, I think alcohol in excess is also twattish and I think less of heavy drinkers too.

Cannabis is so dangerous and sad because ppl think it is benign. I know two ppl with fried brains and wasted potential because of weed.

If it is becoming more acceptable, that's horrible. But actually I doubt that it is. The Internet is a funny place and you get odd concentrations on it.

"MDMA itself may not be particularly risky, for example, but so many things are cut in with it these days it has become particularly dangerous."

If a batch of MDMA was cut with something lethal, you would see hundreds of people die in a single weekend.

Has that ever happened, in your "forensic" experience or are we talking about urban legends & myths? AFAIK, the answer to that is "No, that has never happened".

Cocaine and ecstasy have been shown to be far less dangerous than alcohol and smoking.

Horizon did something on it a few years back, we use it in drugs education.

Even when you normalise for the numbers of people using. Heroine and crack are most dangerous.

Even if it's not addictive (not sure I would agree with that but hey) it is still a drug that endangers health - maybe more or less than other drugs but it still presents a danger. An immediate danger and a cumulative one.

cote to me, the risk is not a big thing. If we are going to worry about risk then I would have to suck my teeth every time a friend learned to drive. If you want to risk MDMA for instance, that isn't what concerns me.

Really, it's the drugs industry and its human cost and fall out. Other things may be bad too; but this is one set of truly bad things we could avoid.