Professional people and drug use

[Beebee6]

I work in banking and moved to London a year ago for a career opportunity. I’m in my early 30s and have never thought of myself as particularly naive but I’m genuinely shocked by how many of my colleagues regularly use drugs. By drugs, I'm mostly referring to cocaine. They all talk about this very openly as if it’s a perfectly normal and acceptable thing to do at the weekend, after work or when they have spare time without the kids. On the rare occasions when I have been along to social events after work, it’s always offered around and I appear to be the only one not partaking. None of these people are particularly ‘young’ either (most 30s-40s) and are all very successful professional people, who in my (perhaps judgemental) opinion, aren’t the typical drug using types. Some are single but many have families. I mentioned this to a friend of mine who seemed to think that this is now commonplace amongst many working professionals, particularly in the city. I’m curious as to whether this sort of thing really has become more normal and accepted now?

People are so much nicer on cocaine.
Said nobody ever.

Also, alcohol destroys many more lives than drugs do, shall we just blanket ban that too then?

Worked out well before didn't it?!

Isn't it irresponsible to legalise drugs from a global perspective? We can't fix the supply chain. Surely that's just a big you to the countries they come from?

PinkBlueStripes I suppose you could go down a fair trade drugs route and only buy from sustainable licensed over seas sources if you controlled the supply line.

NoArmani I am sorry for your loss.

Agree about Alcohol Jiggles. Maybe the government could fund advertising in the opposite way to show people in the last throes of liver failure, choking on their own blood, or #wet brain goals, instead of advertising it as a cool lifestyle choice during advert breaks and sport adverts, or would that affect their tax coffers?

How long would it be if class A's were made legal until we were being bombarded by adverts such as who needs a working septum or heathy heart?not me son, no damaging effects.go for the glamorous full pupil Insta shots - just don't take photos of the comedown, you might lose followers ;)

Jiggles101 Don't dare accuse me of being judgemental when you have referred to my post as cats bum faced whatever the hell that means and hysterical. I'm just a realist see it at the shitty end when it all hits the fan. So glad to hear you were only joking about the arts...sort of. Truly pathetic to make such a glib comment on such a serious subject.

If you can't take being called judgemental don't call me condescending 🤷🏻‍♀️

Fwiw I think we are a long way from legalising. That would only happen in a time of relative social harmony and prosperity. Maybe fifteen years post Brexit but no time soon.

Also think about all the wonderful art, writing and music we wouldn't have had without drugs
Yeh, that makes all the people trafficking and drug murders all ok, then. Not.
More to the point, surely, think about all the lives destroyed including those of talented people included.

Mind altering substances are a significant part of human culture, these powerful substances can have many benefits, they can also be very problematic
we need legislation to regulate their use
I understand why there are calls for continuing prohibition but the truth is that prohibition causes more problems than it solves, it is not the answer

Again and again every argument against drugs leads to the obvious solution- legalise and control recreational drugs.

I am literally aghast here at someone claiming to be a therapist trying to downplay the mess drugs leave because of all the great art and music they have supposedly helped create.
Please, people like you are dangerous or wilfully ignorant or simply haven’t seen the mess that drugs leave behind in these specific circumstances.
I have seen it first hand. I don’t wish to elaborate anymore and while I am not a therapist I think this is view is so very wrong and selfish. I’m not talking about cannabis - I think there is compelling evidence for its legalisation - but MDMA and other hallucinogens? You just be having a laugh. Or think Timothy Leary was a genius.
The first thing you should be asking is WHY does anybody take drugs. Those who think it’s all fine might say it’s because drugs are fun. But really? Is it? Is that the best fun on offer? I know very few people who went off to try drugs to see if they were fun on their own - all the drug use I have encountered (including my own) was part of a cohort and subtle peer pressure as a teen and also adult. I know of only one person who took drugs seriously as a psychological and social experiment. It ruined them and they will never be the same again.

I often think how I will broach this subject with my children when they are old enough and no doubt curious. I don’t yet know. All I do know is that I will never NEVER use the think of all the great art that has been made of it. Because I have actually lost people in precisely those circumstances and believe me, their art doesn’t mean shit.
HTH

I was listening to an interview with someone who went to drug therapy for war related ptsd. It was either mdma or magicmushrooms and it was quite effective for him and others.

If these drugs can help more people then it should be tried

Coke users gravitate to other coke users in social environments which is probably why a lot of posters are adamant they never encounter them. Its certainly true that the availability and the quality of coke is at an all time high (I read its all channeled through a handful of Albanian gangs now). Because of this its even more likely for people to have a cheeky line before they go out or at parties and clubs.

Its rife across all social classes here in Manchester and all age groups especially with booze as you can drink more. Sweaty heads, bright eyes and gibberish conversation are dead giveaways lol

Here's David Nutt's site:
www.drugscience.org.uk/
DrugScience is the leading independent scientific body on drugs in the UK. We work to provide clear, evidence-based information without political or commercial interference

www.newsweek.com/fda-approves-psychedelic-magic-mushrooms-ingredient-psilocybin-depression-1086759

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms for a drug trial for treatment-resistant depression.
The agency gave the green light to Compass Pathways, a life sciences firm, to perform clinical trials using psilocybin.
Occurring naturally in magic mushrooms, psilocybin is a hallucinogenic which can cause feelings of euphoria.
According to a statement by Compass Pathways, 216 patients with treatment-resistant depression will take part in the phase two trial across 12 to 15 research sites in North America and Europe, which will start in the U.K. later this month.

Researchers will dose participants with psilocybin while they receive psychological support. The firm hopes more countries will join the project as and when respective health bodies approve the use of psilocybin for clinical trials.

Tracy Cheung, from Compass Pathways, told Newsweek the clinical trial will be the largest ever conducted into psilocybin therapy.
"If our studies are successful, we could be applying for marketing authorization in two to three years," she said, describing depression as "a huge unmet need with 300 million patients worldwide; 100 million of these have treatment-resistant depression and don’t respond to existing treatments."
The approval comes amid what is known as the psychedelic renaissance. Growing evidence suggests psychedelic substances, such as psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, ayahuasca and peyote ibogaine, could be used to treat mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder in a controlled medical setting. Researchers are also exploring the use of ketamine, which is an anesthetic rather than a hallucinogenic.

A 2017 study published in the journal Scientific Reports showed depression patients who took psilocybin in a controlled, clinical setting saw their symptoms ease weeks after treatment. The team at Imperial College London, U.K. believe the compound reset the participants' brain circuits. However, they acknowledged the trial of 20 people was small, and further research is needed before the compound can be prescribed by doctors.

A separate 2016 study by researchers at the New York University and Johns Hopkins University showed a single dose of psilocybin decreased symptoms of anxiety in cancer patients for eight months when compared to a placebo. The findings were published in The Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Psychedelics are believed to help parts of the brain that generally have little connection to communicate, and lower activity in the regions which do, researchers at the University of Cambridge wrote on The Conversation.

For anyone interested, here is his 2010 report which goes into the harmfulness levels of various drugs, both to the user and to society (including crime and environment).

www.ias.org.uk/uploads/pdf/News%20stories/dnutt-lancet-011110.pdf

Woof its a good job I'm considerably more educated and experienced in the area than you are then isn't it.

And it's a good job all these psychologists, psychiatrists and psychotherapists involved in the research linked to above are a bit more open minded than the morally outraged on here.

It's expensive, risky (career/criminal record/health) and the supply chain is horribly exploitative of vulnerable people. The money that is made by dealers fuels human trafficking and other crimes.

But most of all, I have never seen anyone on coke and thought 'They look great, I wish I was having as good a time as them!'

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/voices/mdma-ecstasy-drug-study-decriminalise-ptsd-trauma-trust-david-nutt-gabay-a8643031.html%3famp

I know for a fact the trauma therapists involved in Ben Sessa's study into mdma and ptsd all took it themselves (under trial conditions). Are they all reprobates who shouldn't be practicing then?

I know I've strayed a bit from the original theme of the thread, but honestly people should try learning a bit about a subject before blindly condemning something which they clearly know fuck all about.

the supply chain is horribly exploitative of vulnerable people. The money that is made by dealers fuels human trafficking and other crimes
as you say, prohibition is bad, people still enjoy experimenting and the demand brings forth the supply

Why do people think recreational drug taking takes place if the people doing it don’t find it fun? Surely everyone who takes drugs would only do so once if they weren’t fun?
I completely understand that the consequences when it goes wrong are a million miles away from fun but seriously no one takes them to have a bad time.

and lets not forget Micheal Pollan's work:
michaelpollan.com/books/how-to-change-your-mind/
How to Change Your Mind
What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists.