Crack - experiences and opinions please.

[Esla1986]

First time poster, long time lurker.

Around one month ago, one of our project managers (in the building trade) happen to mention that smoking cannabis, and now crack, is common in the industry. He said that it was because they struggle to get work in a 'normal job', so end up as casual labourers on building sites essentially. I was so shocked (about the crack)!

Then around 2 weeks ago, I recommended a plasterer that we used about 1 year (not work related), to someone. He happened to know this guy’s name (I live in a small city of around 600,000 people). He responded with, 'I wouldn’t hire him, you know that he is a crackhead?'. I actually could not believe it. Yes, he lives in a rough part of town, but I was sure that he must have the wrong guy (family man, mid -40s, 2 kids).

When I had hired the plasterer a year ago, he was recovering from a broken back as he had fallen from the roof of his outbuilding. The chap that I was speaking to then said 'he didn't fall of the roof; he jumped after getting high on crack, thinking that he was being chased!'

I have just been told my aunt, who lets out a flat in our city that she is trying evict her tenants as they are making crack and dealing it from the flat.

I am 33 years old and when I was young crack just was not around. I cannot believe how popular it seems to be now.

How sad for the individuals and communities.

Does anyone have similar experiences? Maybe it is just me and my town!

I’m a afraid I’ve never had a plasterer on crack to my knowledge.

I work in the construction industry and as far am I'm aware, no-one who works for us is on crack. I've never heard it mentioned by any of the site guys and I'd be surprised if it's that common....cannabis on the other hand. But that's not just in the construction industry, I'd say it was a particular age group, which makes up a good chunk of the construction industry

I once had a guy plaster over my crack.

@draughtycatflap hahahaha brilliant

I think it is one of the 'hidden' drugs, weed is far more socially acceptable to admit to smoking, crack gives images of well, crackheads, and as such few would admit to partaking. there are a couple of people i've discovered smoke it 'recreationally' that I was shocked about, having heard them sneer about crackheads and junkies over the years. Slippery slope, imo.

Were in construction too. To our knowledge weve never had anyone on site with a crack issue.
We do have a lot of big drinkers, a lot of weed smokers. Last year there was a man who was a heroin addict he didnt last long on site.

I've no idea about crack - but the concept of short-term labour posts attracting people who can't hold down a permanent job makes sense.

Living with a partner and two children doesn't mean someone isn't an addict - plenty of threads on here from the partners in question.

I'm 51, and when you were young I was aware that there was a problem with crack. The reason you didn't know is that people don't tend to tell children these things if they can help it.

I think this person is possibly trying to normalise drugs in the work conversation, perhaps for his own benefit. It's very odd.
Crack is closer to you than you think though, as is heroin. A lot of people are able to hide it well and disguise it as other things. My advice would be to judge a person as you find them, not on what you hear about them.

Crack ime has been more popular and prevalent in your 33 year life span than it is right now

There are very many high functioning drug addicts though, across all drugs types, but the style of use for crack particularly lends itself to that, it's a drug that alot of people binge on rather than do continuously at a low level, unless it's caught up alongside other drug use (crack and heroin are very common combined sales)

Not my idea of a good time

Is plasterer crack the same as builders butt?

I wouldn't at all be surprised. Have known a few lads in construction who are into coke (casually doing it on a Monday night, that sort of thing). Crack is cheaper I guess.

Drug use is easy to hide if you can be bothered.

Not us but our neighbours on several different sides, when they have had builders in, often the obvious smell of hash comes wafting over from about 8am or so. It's been consistent enough with different companies over the years that's it come to be expected at least one of them will be puffing away.

Coke was the drug of choice in my industry 20 Years ago.
Vile stuffs got a lot cheaper and easier to get

I spent years working in criminal justice and drug intervention. There will be people using Class A drugs who might be reasonably high functioning and you won't be aware of their drug use.

I don't know any plasterers on crack themselves but I know a builder who has a brother on crack. He and his partner have lost their children to adoption and are expecting a 5th baby which will probably be removed at birth.

I also know of a young mum (mid twenties) who started taking it recreationally and descended into a full blown addiction, she lost her children and her house and is now in prison for a string of thefts committed to fund her habit.

I also know another young woman, same age and friend of the last person, who 'self medicated' with crack to mask mental health problems but has fortunately managed to sort her life out.

I know of at least 5 others who use it and are ruining their own lives (and other people's) in the process.

I'm from a small town where class A drug use is endemic, I don't live there any more but am kept in the loop as to what's going on and see alot of it playing out over Facebook.

Suffice to say I don't take it myself.

I can't see anybody holding down a job for long whilst using something like that. It's a ghastly drug and sucks the soul out of anybody who partakes. It's impossible to just dabble imo.

I think in those industries (just going from experience of friends and friend's partners, etc.) it's not uncommon to use coke and certainly cannabis too. Dh worked for pre-fab builder in their warehouse as temp labor after uni while he was job searching. Literally every single other guy there smoked cannabis literally all day, every break and lunch time (not dh, frankly he would have needed a nap after!). He used to come home with stories about everyone being stoned off their faces all day every day. It's amazing no one killed themselves as they worked with a lot of heavy machinery. Crack is a cheaper, dirtier version of coke and I can see how easy it would be to slip into using crack if you developed a coke habit you couldn't afford. I also imagine people use crack/coke interchangably to some extent, even though they are different.

I can remember my hairdresser talking to be a few years bs k about how every weekend she’d take ketamine. I was really shocked. Apparently it’s a very standard drug nowadays, I guess when I was younger loads of people would take ecstasy, perhaps crack is now cheap and being taken alongside weed.

Interesting. Crack's the one drug that I have never either been around personally, or known anyone to be taking. It could just be one of those coincidence things - because you have suddenly become aware of it, you are noticing it more if anyone mentions it?

@Pearsapiece

I think this person is possibly trying to normalise drugs in the work conversation, perhaps for his own benefit. It's very odd. Crack is closer to you than you think though, as is heroin. A lot of people are able to hide it well and disguise it as other things. My advice would be to judge a person as you find them, not on what you hear about them.

I wasn't judging. I would have that plasterer back. But i still find it sad (and interesting).

Like another poster said, people take these drugs recreationally at first, and before they know it they have destroyed their lives.

My aunt's tenant has had her daughter taken off her due to her addiction. It doesnt get much worse than that.

I just wanted to hear other people's experiences as I didn't have any experiences at all with the drug, previously.

There are lots industries that have functioning addicts working.
Lots of addicts have children.

As long as the person is capable of doing their job, isn't leaving paraphernalia around and isn't involved in criminal activity to fund the addiction doesn't bother me what a person is on.

People use coke, molly, heroin, speed etc to get through their working day. Lots of the people in catering I know do coke. Those that require drug testing for their jobs really limit their use and go wild when on AL. NHS I know a few alcoholics (the only time they aren't drinking is when at work)

Yes I have tried it and wondered why people go back for more, hated it.

@esla1986 my apologies, I miss read it as you saying you regret using that tradesman after you heard of his drug habit.

My SIL managed to hide a crack then heroin addiction from us all for a good few years until her daughter 'dropped her in it' as such. It was awful and we can tell in a second now whether she's off her face or not. Drugs are fucking awful and don't only ruin the lives of those who take it but of those around them too.

I know one person who has tried it once. He said it was indeed rather addictive (shocker). Like everything was right with the world. I can see why it would be appealing at the mo.

I also know someone who tried smoking heroin and fucking hated it! Said he just felt really sick.

Other than those two, I don't know anyone who has had either afaik, but I'm even older than you and none of my friends or acquaintances are in the building trade, so maybe it is a thing, which has just passed me by!

Many people seem to do coke these days on a night out etc and I know loads of people had MDMA and ecstasy when I was a student. Lots of weed where I live and it's a vey naice area. I can smell it quite often.

There is a drug dealer operating quite out in the open in one street in town and there is a man who looks to be very unwell who often hangs out there. He talks away to an invisible person and is clearly not well at all, dirty and not looking after himself. I did wonder about monkey dust maybe, as that seems to be another problem at the mo and also spice, which I know my (doctor) brother sees a lot of.

It does worry me tbh. It isn't just the effects of the drugs themselves necessarily, although that is a worry too. It's the illegality of it, where it comes from, how the sale of it is managed etc.

Crack definitely was a thing in your lifetime, you just moved in different circles.

According to a friends teenage son, the latest thing is snorting ketamine

Snorting Ketamine was a big thing when I was a university. So between 2005 - 2008. I knew a guy who was incontinent as he had used it so much, it had basically fucked his kidneys. He was the same age as me, so early to mid twenties at the time.

Crack isn't new, but it being 'mainstream' definitely is I think? Snorting ket is not the latest thing by any stretch.