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?!

It’s apparently rife in my village. My dd told me one of the dads of the kids from her school is a dealer. She also said he recently got busted. They’re only 12 and idea if any of this is true. I should ask my friend, who knows everyone!

Weed is the drug of choice round here.

Surely these middle class professional Users must be bright enough to understand at least a little about the human suffering, trafficking and deaths that are part of the drugs trade?

That’s the bit I can’t get my head around

I’ve started thinking now that maybe, when people disappeared for a while on works nights out, they weren’t just popping out for a fag....

Yeah it's everywhere. At least two thirds of my friends are either regular users or used to be.

I wonder if it is a generational thing. When I was young cocaine was called the "champagne drug" because it was so expensive. None of my friends will see 50 again, and I am over 60. I knew people who had the odd joint, but cocaine and anything stronger was a no no.

We just stick to alcohol, whoch is legal and regulated, although can be just as addictive.

Cocaine purity/'quality' in the UK is actually at record high levels, due to competition.

Nice to know we're good at something then regarding the purity of illegal drugs!
It's probably safer than most of the food we eat or alcohol ( weed smokers tend to say this about alcohol!)
It Still wouldn't entice me to try it.

If someone thinks having a good time means shoving shit up their noses, well they’ve git a screw loose.

Cant abide drug takers.

I was once on a train to see a football match and some blokes were snorting it off their hands in front of everyone. I was so shocked! But my siblings have all done it and my cousins and friends on nights out. It's never interested me but I don't judge. Unless it got to the point where it was impacting on day to day lives.

Cocaine isn't safe at all. It's bad for your heart. Heroin by comparison is safer, if it's pure and you can afford it. It's the lifestyle that goes with it (makes it difficult to hold down a job) plus the fact it's illegal and therefore cut to shit that's bad for you. But cocaine is very unhealthy, really.

You obviously know rough people OP. I don't socialise with druggies personally.

So I am mid-30's and don't know a soul who uses cocaine recreationally. I know friends who've tried it but never went behind that.

Or are people just not telling me? (north Yorks)