Levels of Professionals who regularly take A-class drugs e.g. Heroin and Cocaine

[Tigerzmum]

I read it on one of the threads in Mumsnet, some months back, that drug taking like Heroin and Cocaine were prevalent amongst professionals; In fact, in conversation with 2 friends recently I was informed that I was not socially aware if this was new to me!

Twenty years ago it was not unusual for the toilets in the professional office I worked in (northern city) to be swept for coke - and it was regularly found, although I never actually saw anyone take any, either in or out of work. Now the only people (lots of them) I know who do it are working class and in the building trade. Never heard of it being common amongst school mums.

Hang on... HUGE difference between taking cocaine regularly and taking heroin regularly. I don't do either FYI but heroin is a highly physically addictive drug which you can't take regularly without dependency and serious physical consequences. Cocaine is also bad for you but its something people can do and more or less maintain a normal functioning life unless they are using tons.

A lot of professionals use cocaine. I dare say some use heroin as well but nothing like the same amount.

one of the most common professions to use cocaine is chefs so not always income based.

Heroine no, coke yes.

PR here. It's more common to do coke than to not do coke, in London at least. IME.

Sorry meant to say in PR, in London, in my own personal experience.

I know a mum who makes £700-£800 a day on the school run selling coke to other mum's!! I'm surprised she hasn't been caught yet as none of her children go to that school

It's rife on building sites too from labourers to site management and EVERYONE in-between.

Coke was commonplace and taken openly when I worked in London, but I did work in advertising.

Heroin?

Who the fuck takes heroin on a casual night out?

@LaurieFairyCake

Cokes really cheap now. Used to be the case that you needed a high income for it, it's now the cost of a takeaway

🤨

My friend’s step-dad was a paramedic. They’d all take coke together while on the job to keep themselves going.

I’m a lawyer and I don’t take coke. Neither does anyone I know.

I did know one guy who was into it years ago but didn’t seem like the prevailing thing.

Heroin is actually less physically harmful than cocaine. The worse thing about heroin is the actual addiction, which was less of an issue before the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, when addicts received a safe dose from their GP, then got on with normal lives. The dangers mostly arise from it's illegality. The unknown purity, cut with other (more dangerous) substances, the criminality and links to violent gangs.

It's obviously not ideal being dependent on a drug but if someone had to choose between medically regulated heroin or cocaine, heroin is less physically damaging.

Cocaine as a drug is more harmful. It can cause heart damage amongst other things.

I know a lot of people who do coke ... none heroin 🤣

Coke is a "party scene" drug though . Crikey I've seen people do it in the work offices at PAST employers ...

The thing about cocaine is that other than the physical damage it does over time, and other than the huge dent in your finances, you can operate completely as normal if not better on it. It's not like your eyes are swivelling in your head and you're melting onto the floor. You can appear on the outside as being just normal but very "on it", albeit a little more on edge, talking over people more, being a little more aggressive. It's quite a dangerous drug on that respect because as long as you exercise a bit of self restraint you can blend it into your normal life without too much fall out. Obviously that is not possible with ecstasy and especially not heroin. I think that's why heroin is seen as a scarier drug although it may be softer on the body. Because heroin really starts you down a slip into stepping out of reality that could be very dangerous to get out of (I assume, I have never taken heroin precisely because of that fear). I always saw heroin as a very scary drug - but then surprisingly I met some people who have taken it before. People you wouldnt expect.

I think theres a lot of stigma around drugs and it's a cliche but it is surprising in many respects that alcohol isnt treated with the same backlash. I'm a drinker but I understand just how detrimental alcohol can be to the body, to relationships. It's just cultural. Alcohol has been on our radar forever. The other "advantage" is that alcohol is much easier to moderate. You can have "just a glass or two" without shifting over into another reality. You cant really have "just a bit of heroin" though. You can have "just a bit of coke", or "just a bit of weed", so I'm surprised those two havent been kind of legalised and sold in clean/pure forms and normalised to a certain extent alongside alcohol.

I think people who dont have any experience with drugs have a knee jerk reaction of "OMFG!@!!! DRUGS!!!!!" without understanding that you can moderate. Drugs doesnt automatically mean a wild eyed killer going around out of their mind and stabbing people in the street or living in doorways.

I lived in London and worked in the city as a finance professional for nine years. I never took drugs or saw anyone else take them.

Now I live in the leafy suburbs and work locally, I still don't take drugs but I'm now aware of people who do!

Yes, I worked in a large city centre law firm until not long ago (moved to a much smaller, little town practice, I love it!).

It was absolutely rife among solicitors in the big firms. Half of the job was about taking out clients or brokers and plying them with alcohol and drugs essentially. If you couldn't get on board with the 'networking', you never got to the top.

It's not a nice environment.

I think that if you use drugs, you find your people fairly easily. You know what to look and listen out for to find people with similar tastes. You probably have friends, acquaintances, friends of friends, maybe dealers in common. There are hundreds of people where I work- ok, no one is going around with a big neon sign announcing that they are or are not a recreational drug user, but if it is something you do, others who also do reveal themselves very quickly. And probably with phrases someone with no interest or connection to the practice won't even notice.

as you exercise a bit of self restraint you can blend it into your normal life without too much fall out. Obviously that is not possible with ecstasy and especially not heroin

The thing is, that is certainly possible with heroin, very possible, if the state approach to management of its use is humane and sensible and based on harm reduction rather than a headline seeking, morally driven 'war on drugs' approach. Countries which operate schemes providing regulated product, safe injection spaces and professional oversight of use demonstrate that. You can be a long term heroin user without your life becoming a death spiral of chaos, physical health deterioration, mental health destruction, poverty, shattered lives and crime... or you could if our policies were based around evidence rather than bullshit.

Dh and I are both on 100k and neither taking those drugs. Dont believe our friendship group are either, includes lawyers, various financial professionals etc. The only group I'm aware of it being more common among is the risk taker occupations & the people in roles where theres a lot of customer schmoozing. Traders and sales, basically.

Its exagerated loads by people who want to sound a bit in the know.

I think people who dont have any experience with drugs have a knee jerk reaction of "OMFG!@!!! DRUGS!!!!!" without understanding that you can moderate. Drugs doesnt automatically mean a wild eyed killer going around out of their mind and stabbing people in the street or living in doorways

Nice bit of straw manning there

Cocaine is rife in hospitality as well, only way that some people can get through the long shifts. I work in a restaurant and can tell when some of my colleagues are on it, they whiz around the place and are extra talkative, tbf it does make them more productive 😂

Never tried it myself, have no intention to either, it's a slippery slope. Once you start using it then you end up needing it to get through a long, busy shift. But you need to be able to get through the long, busy shifts in order to afford the coke. Never ending cycle.

never known anyone personally and in the past i worked as a solicitor for 5 years and 2 years of training in a large city, not london. never even heard any gossip of anyone doing this.

smoking a bit of cannabis on a friday night (not me) but nothing else.

if i have 2 large 250ml glasses of wine i'm a bit fucked the next day.

no idea how those with travel, child caring
/drop offs to school and being in front of co-workers on a coke or ecstasy come down seems mental to me

I wouldn't call Gove a professional.