Many, many people took recreational drugs in the 90s. Where are they now?

[perhapsiwill]

I'm not a drug addict and none of my friends were at the time, we just took Es at the weekend, sometimes other drugs. We all went to work or college, seemed like everyone else did this too. We had a great time, weekends were for dancing and hugging, I didn't get on with drunk people and one night stands and it suited me much better.
I moved away from where I grew up, nice area to another nice area.
When I mention partying in my youth to other mums where I live now, they look at me as if I'm an addict who needs help .
Are they all pretending? There were thousands of us doing this so where are they now? And why do people who never took drugs appear to feel so morally superior? One of the women where I live openly talks about cheating the system financially yet looks at me like I'm scum because I went out and had fun 20 years ago. (And probably once a year now!) I feel that because I mentioned this one evening in a pub I have alienated myself from the local mums.

Plenty of old ravers amongst the mums and dads I know! Often to be found in a warehouse in Hackney on a Sunday afternoon raving with their toddlers (No E's now of course. Maybe a can of Red Stripe and an organic fruit smoothie for the children...)

i took loads of drugs between the ages of 15 and 24 and had an awesome time 👏 I appreciate there are risks and downsides but no one tells you how much bloody fun E is! It also pees me off a bit how lots of people like to get on their high horse about it but the number of alcohol related deaths are so much higher, even per number of users, but that's somehow more socially acceptable?

I still think all drugs should be legalised, taxed and managed so the risks can be reduced and people know what they are taking.

Same here trainspotting, they showed us a photo of Leah Betts in assembly and also a photo of a girl who died from a heroin overdose. I can't remember her name but both photos were rather graphic, one was of Leah Betts on life support and the other was of the overdosed girl dead with a syringe in her arm. The whole assembly centred around "drugs are bad" and gave us all the fear.

I did weed and now and then did poppers but mostly my year group drank. A lot. The norm in sixth form was to go out at least four nights a week. Booze was so cheap at the time too, I could go out with £15 in my pocket and come home hammered - everywhere would have specials on where alcopops were £1 a bottle, cider and lager £1 a pint, house spirits £2 for a double, buy one shot get three free and so on. We'd drink whatever was cheap and then pool what money we had left at the end of the night for a couple of pizzas and a shared taxi home.

My DH is one . University days and a little after until he left the uk.

He would rather not discuss it, except with me and often ponders how he will honestly discuss these things with our children.

He doesn't do any now and no intention of picking up the habit again.

Still here.

But then all my friends are very open about drugs and no one is judgemental because everyone does it/has done it.

In my social circle it's not viewed as any worse as having a few drinks.

Big wave we are about!

They're all around, but maybe you're getting a glazed reaction because it's a bit 'try hard' to talk about it 20 years on. I think I'd be a little about someone talking about it, but only in the same way as if I met a 30+ yo who mentioned they'd been expelled from school or been head girl.

Perhaps you should think about the people involved in harvesting and producing the drugs and what goes on before they fall into the hands of a socially acceptable drug dealer at a party: drug cartels, organised crime, human trafficking, modern slavery, gun crime, embezzlement, prostitution, funding terrorists and so on...

www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/jul/16/drug-cartels-world-zetas-miguel-angel

mironline.ca/hsbc-from-ecstasy-dealers-to-an-israeli-arms-dealer-2/

What a depressing read thread this is. No thought about the human misery that goes on before it landed in your hand and you got to get high at the weekend. I'm alright Jack indeed.

Waving to you op. I don't really hide it if it comes up in conversation, but it's not something that comes up in conversation much. Absolutely loved Es, magic mushrooms and weed. Now a (I think) respectable and mostly functioning member of society, mum of two and I have a good job in the law enforcement field!

Maybe because I've seen the damage drugs can do to families I find it distasteful for people to brag or glamorise about all the fun they had taking drugs, or that boring 'square' people judge others just having fun.

I didn't personally but a few friends at uni did a lot of coke, GHB, Es, etc. They're now all grown up with kids and professional jobs.

No-one in my current circle did drugs, I've moved to the Home Counties and seems like it wasn't a 'thing' down here like it was in Manchester?

One of my current friends got very shitty about me trying Miaow Miaow just before it was banned - the same friend is a drunk driver

oh and i are ravers of the 00s... i never admit to taking anything to acquaintances, only friends who already knew.
mdma and coke were standards amongst our social circle, whereas smoking pot was something we kinda looked down on lol...
the warehouse project and sankeys were our stomping ground... there's not really much in the way of alcohol in those place.
it's not playground conversation tho ;) gotta pick your audience more carefully

i miss being able to party that hard, drugs or not, last time i got a bit messy i felt like death for days!

Lamb shank have you read the thread? People are talking about drugs they did 20 years ago

There are all kinds of things I think about now LambShank that wouldn't have crossed my mind 20 years ago when I was 18. It's called maturing, growing up and yes, realising that the world does not revolve around you.

I don't think people are bragging or saying it was glamorous?

It was a big part of my youth and I'm not going to pretend it didn't happen. It's just nice to sometimes speak to others who have had similar life experiences, it certainly doesn't define who we are now.

Fucking love that mug

I was a raver in the 90's. Stopped after a bad trip in Ibiza, when Ibiza was first cool.
Happy days. I was skinny then too.
😂
I am now a respectable PTFA mum of 3!

ILost
How is it not bragging or glamorising by saying how much fun everyone had and that only boring square people don't take drugs but judge people who do.
It's very distasteful and almost advocating having drugs to have a good time

I think it'd depend on your social circle, if its different to what it was in the 90s then there's the strong possibility they didn't take drugs. Not everyone took drugs in the 90s (or 80s, 70s, 60s...), but social groups tend to mimic each other so it'd have come across as everyone taking Es

No one in my friends took E, it was speed, acid or dope.

Foldedtshirt that is an interesting comment. I like talking about the past, growing up, uni, travelling, am I boring? Probably. I'll take that on board.
Stumblymonkey I grew up in the Home Counties and I honestly thought that 90% of my age group were doing it. Everyone went to the free parties off the m25 or up to London after meeting at the pub.

"Perhaps you should think about the people involved in harvesting and producing the drugs"

Oh boo hoo. Rather, you should rub two brain cells together and realize that the drugs most of us are talking about don't get harvested at all, and are produced in labs right here in Europe.

No one said people who don't take drugs are boring.

I said how much fun I've had drunk- I'm sure many people know families destroyed by alcohol, doesn't make my experience any less fun though does it?

See, I can understand your feelings Sillysausage because I feel exactly the same about alcohol. My life has been blighted by other people's abuse of alcohol but ironically none of the people I knew who took drugs are now addicted.

I think some people dont like admitting the truth to drug use in their youth as its a bit embarrassing.

i dont go around talking about it to any new people I meet. Its in the past and I dont even talk about it to my DP who I know didn't take part in the same sort of partying that I did.

I now have a professional career, and growing human life so uber sensible compared to the tearaway I was when I was younger. Sometimes I look back fondly of those times, but mostly I am glad they are behind me, as I did stupid things.