In thinking that cocaine use in London appears to be commonplace these days?!

[Fifilikes]

I’m a 30 year old professional working in finance and moved to the city for a new opportunity a couple of years ago. During that time, I’ve lived in two different professional house shares where I’ve been fortunate enough to be introduced to friends of friends through my housemates and I’ve also met and socialised with lots of people I’ve met through my now husband and also through my work for a large financial services company.

I’ve met a huge range of people, aged between mid 20’s through to mid 40’s, all of whom are relatively successful and well educated. The common denominator is that all of them is that they use cocaine recreationally, whether it be on nights out or nights in over drinks after a long week at work etc. DH and I are very sociable and normally drink alcohol frequently on such occasions but nothing more. Yet pretty much everyone else I’ve met thinks cocaine use is as casual as buying a bottle of wine on a Friday and will talk about it or offer it around without any thought, which still after two years I find quite shocking.

It has me wondering whether cocaine use amongst professionals in the city really is commonplace and widely socially acceptable now, or is it simply that somehow DH and I have both been introduced to the wrong social groups and what we’re seeing to be the ‘norm’ simply isn’t?!

YABU it's a well known fact and has been happening for years. I'm surprised you have no knowledge of it.

Very common in Glasgow too

I was born & raised in London & saw a lot of the negative sides to drugs. Very few of my childhood friends dabbled with it & friends I've made along the way who are also Londoners have stayed away. The vast majority of us are children of immigrants though so perhaps that has some influence. There's also the element if you're not white you're less likely to get a slap on the wrist.

He opened my eyes. The distribution network only seems to be detrimental to the very bottom of the hierarchy. Meanwhile, the users probably think very little about how their drug gets to them.

This is such a heartbreaking story, @JayDot500. I think I'm pretty naive about it all and lead a fairly cushioned life, but these stories are not unusual. I can't understand how anyone fails to see that casual drug use, especially by the wealthy and powerful, fuels demand and creates this horrible exploitation and control of vulnerable people's lives. Unlike clothing and food, there's no fairtrade/ethical side to the industry.

I worked with someone who had a real issue, used to do crack in the toilet.

Although i don't personally know of anyone who does it that know when i do hear of it being used it is the vegan ethical clothes wearing 'i only put natural things in my body' fairtrade coffee drinkers

@seayork2020

Although i don't personally know of anyone who does it that know when i do hear of it being used it is the vegan ethical clothes wearing 'i only put natural things in my body' fairtrade coffee drinkers

I'm finding that hard to believe.

Although i don't personally know of anyone who does it that know when i do hear of it being used it is the vegan ethical clothes wearing 'i only put natural things in my body' fairtrade coffee drinkers

I doubt fair trade vegans have enough economic power to fuel the cocaine industry , and one of the things that seems pretty clear from this thread is that it is much more pervasive than just being a habit among a single stereotype (or class, profession, etc).

Really common in London in creative industries. Lots of references to it during the work day too. I know a few people who've become addicted to it. Saying that, for every person snorting it at a big house party there's someone else refusing it – sometimes because they don't do it, sometimes because they're on something else. Thing is, after a few drinks it can seem like a good idea. I read up on the supply chain a few years back and it's horrific.

As others have said, it's been popular for well over 20 years. I think people always liked doing it but it was expensive in the 80s so only the middle class upwards had it. Then it got a lot cheaper, maybe mid -late 90s, and more people started being able afford it. Apparently the supply chains have been disrupted by covid now though so the price is going up again, so I think there's been a corresponding downturn in use.

My own personal experience is that there's always been a wee knot of people on it in any social circle from mid 90s on.

Weed, on the other hand, is fucking everywhere now. I smell it all the time and I hear boring pot head pontification about it much more often than a few decades ago.

Oh and btw (this is something that's just occurred to me off the back of people talking about the effects of trade on producer countries) : the 1990s price drop coincided with periods when violent groups gained control of significant regions in those countries - the north of Colombia was what they called "demilitarised" ie state troops pulled out, the Shining Path in Peru moved hq mostly out of cities (although continued to bomb and assasinate in them), similar move from anti government forces in Bolivia to the coca regions.

Anyone know if there is a connection? Because it does look to me like all of that lovely cheap powder had a pretty high price elsewhere.

Cocaine has been very popular since the 80s. It’s not a new drug or suddenly gained traction 😂

Common in city types for decades

I know more working class than middle class people who do it. Dickheads drug either way.

It's rife in Edinburgh!

Yep, pretty common.

Lots of seniors and partners in DHs firm are recreational cocaine users. These are older men and women with spouses and children.

Like PP have said, you'd be surprised by the sheer amount of people who use and also the type of people!

I've never touched the stuff.

Glasgow is awash with the stuff. I am pretty sure my Niece's boyfriend is dealing in it, he is in C.I.D.

It’s not a new drug or suddenly gained traction

I don't think anyone has said it's a new drug, have they? London waste water analysis in 2016 showed cocaine residues had more than doubled since 2011, which suggests increased use.

When I was your age yes it was around a lot.

Fifteen years ago

People are obsessed with coke in London. Very weird. Shite drug overall, there are others that are much more fun and not as expensive.

I must live an incredibly sheltered life, I am not aware of anyone in my circle who uses cocaine. I have never, ever been offered drugs, even weed, in my entire life, including at Uni. I must look very straight laced .

@Ragwort

I must live an incredibly sheltered life, I am not aware of anyone in my circle who uses cocaine. I have never, ever been offered drugs, even weed, in my entire life, including at Uni. I must look very straight laced .

I suppose it’s context, isn’t it. If you’ve never shown an interest in cocaine, people generally don’t offer - same as my friends with DC have never invited me to spend a Sunday afternoon with them at the local soft play centre, because I’ve never expressed any kind of interest in it.

Also, I’ve never been offered cocaine at 7:30 at after work team drinks on a Wednesday in the nice pub near the office, for example. I don’t think it’s that level of common in any workplace. But when I’ve attended a big Friday night cross-organisation celebratory drinks reception and stuck around talking to various colleagues until midnight, I have.

It's common knowledge that traces of cocaine can be found in London's water supply. I'm surprised people don't realise how common it is.

amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/12/wastewater-tests-suggest-drop-in-cocaine-use-in-london?amp_js_v=a3&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=15984513061180&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsociety%2F2020%2Fmar%2F12%2Fwastewater-tests-suggest-drop-in-cocaine-use-in-london

Apologies, that should be found in sewers not water supply.

I've never done any drugs at all but weed seems popular where I live and in the summer evenings we smell it wafting over the fence from goodness knows where (over the back to us. )
My sil's niece twenty years ago or more was a city banker and apparently it helped them to have a line or two in the afternoons to keep them going , so it's nothing new.
I guess they would say it's cool and they can handle it.
Toilet cisterns in service stations were tested once on tv and it was everywhere , which is a worry.
I'm sure it's rife where ever you live.