What happens if you keep drinking and taking recreational drugs into your 50s?

[FortunesFave]

I'm really curious about it....I'm in my late 40s and gave up all that when I was about 19 or 20. Part of the rave culture I certainly did experiment but got it together and went to Uni late...I've never been very into drinking so only have an occasional glass of champagne or a cider with a pub lunch now.

However it's become clear that a lot of our friends who we've had for years are still doing it and for the past 15 years since kids, DH and I have slowly stopped going to their 'dos' when they get off their faces....we used to go and just drink but they'd all be taking MDMA and coke...all perfectly functional during the week by the way...holding down good careers etc. and we found it uncomfortable.

Lately it's got a bit fake and we don't really fit in any more because we barely drink and they still get off their heads at parties. We have other ways of meeting up with them but then they're talking about this weekend or that weekend where they took whatever...and we don't have that to share...not that we want it but the friendships are running their course.

If, like me, you were born in the 70s you'll know that our parents didn't do this sort of thing into their adulthood....so what's going to happen to Generation X as we age? Will the ones who've never stopped just suddenly die of heart attacks young? It's worrying me a bit as some of my friends I really love...but they're still getting faceless and that can't be good when you're 50 plus!

Very interesting discussion. I'm in my early forties and do still do mdma 2 or 3 times a year. I plan to carry on like this forever! This is fairy normal in my social circle.
I would never do harder drugs that have to be trafficked in like Coke or heroine.

Should say, I know exactly where the stuff is made/grown/picked and there are no gangs involved.

I never do coke though, can’t stand it. I know a couple of people who do every now and again but it doesn’t interest me and yes the trail of destruction behind it is appalling.

@edenhills county lines are also involved with mdma

If you take illegal drugs you are supporting crime, the county lines trade, and as disproportionately those arrested, stabbed or otherwise harmed by working in the trade are young black men, you don't believe Black Lives Matter.

Also contributing to appalling exploitation and worse in the countries the drugs are produced.

Increasingly I think we should crack down more on the users. Demand is the root of the problem.

I find middle aged people talking about getting wasted and giggling about it really quite pathetic. I’m mid 50s and I have a few contemporaries who do this.

In our teens it was rebellious, lying to parents, experiencing things for the first time, so it was worth hearing the stories. In our 20s it was still funny - people doing crazy things when drunk, embarrassing one night stands etc - so it was still worth hearing the stories. In our 30s it happened less, as we all started to have kids, so it was mildly amusing and notable for its rarity. But 40s and 50s - to quote my teenager, it’s too “try hard”. Like they’re desperately trying to cling on to their youth, pretending the stories are still funny, like it’s all still hilariously naughty. There’s nothing cool or edgy about doing something that’s no longer “forbidden”. It just looks sad and pathetic. And that’s before you even consider the health damage and horrible things the drugs trade does.

A friend of mine is the head of a secondary school in an area where county lines is a BIG problem. The destruction of children's lives is appalling,

I would probably take drugs quite happily if it wasn't for the way they are produced and supplied, but I can't get past that.

The destruction of children's lives is appalling,

It really is & the associated child sexual exploitation with county lines is an increasing problem.

Both my parents died in their late forties/early fifties from the effects of drugs their whole lives. It catches up with you eventually

@JudyGemstone

My dad wants to try DMT for the first time at 70. It’s a very safe psychedelic, not a amphetamine so I’m fine with it.

I am 42 and an occasional user of mushrooms, DMT and MDMA. Like a couple of times a year, not every weekend, although I do vape weed a bit more regularly.

I’m very excited about the increasing understanding of the benefits of these drugs in treating mental health problems, I work in this area myself and there’s a real need for alternative options to standard psychiatric medications, some of which are terrible for you, awful side effects and can shorten your life by 20 years.

The dead celebrities, that’s over use of prescription painkillers/benzodiazepines with alcohol in most cases. Prescription medications can be far more dangerous than the illegal ones and much more regularly abused.

I think humans have used substances to enhance knowledge and understanding of the world for millennia and I think prohibition has been awful for society generally.

I broadly agree (although I wouldn't try DMT). One of the things I find most disturbing about this whole debate is that despite decades of education and discussion on this, people seem to be incapable of distinguishing between different kinds of drugs.

There is a world of difference between opiates, which have damaged the lives of whole communities in swathes of America, and weed, for example. Completely incomparable, chemically and in terms of what they do to the body and brain. And still lumped together as "drugs". While booze is considered safe purely because its illegal. It's completely nonsensical.

Not saying that there aren't significant risks and drawbacks with some of the milder and less harmful illegal drugs. But the lack of education on this topic and the continued veneer of moral panic is so frustrating.

I worked on a case involving county lines. As well as moving drugs around the one man we were dealing with had recruited several young girls, he would take them to his flat and then pass them round his friends for sex. These girls were the same age or younger than the dc of these 40/50yr old drug takers..

These are the real victims of drugs, not the pathetic 50 year olds who STILL need to be off their faces to have a good time. Next time you pop that pill or snort that line, do think of those girls, being raped by men old enough to be their fathers so that you can get your hit. I'm sure you'll feel it's worth it...

Did anyone see Matthew Perry at the friends reunion? He didn't look good.

He's also had a 19 year old publicise him chatting her up on online dating so he's lonely too. His profile pictures are bad. I feel bad for how public it all is but it's a warning too.

Oh purlease.
Matthew Perry has had severe MH problems, addiction to alcohol, drugs, porn and all sorts of other problems aswell.
How is that at all related?
FFS

How isn't it?

Starting at about age 50, the hard drinkers and druggers we knew started dying off at an alarming rate.

So yes all clearly related.

Reading this thread has made me realise that I have spent my 54 years of life living under a rock. Never taken an illegal drug but sometimes wonder if I missed out on something.

No one in my social circle takes recreational drugs so far as I am aware. We all drink though that is reducing naturally as hangovers seem to get worse and come on with less alcohol consumed as we age.

I do think that drugs should be legalised, licensed and controlled. It wouldnt get rid of the problems of addiction but it would get rid of a lot of criminality very quickly.

@hagtry

This thread is typical of Mn discussions on drugs, there's no middle ground, it's so extremist. Why can't we have a sensible conversation about such things?

It certainly shows a lot of white, middle class privilege as it completes ignores county lines, etc. I guess BLM doesn't in this case.

I grew up in a very diverse & what was then rough part of London. Most learned quickly to stay away from drugs, for one if you were not white you were far more likely to get stopped & searched & far more likely to get a charge even though white people are more likely to use drugs. Still the same today.

Re: County lines. The people, aged 50 plus, I know who are/ were big into drugs, include many black people. Raving was multicultural and massive back in the 80s and a lot of drug use stems from the dance scene. It's not just white people doing it.

The majority of us who live in the West, have massive cognitive dissonance about so many things that we buy, and the harm they cause other people. Gold, phones, clothes. mange tout; It's incredibly sad, but unfortunately a person has to be exceptionally disciplined (and have more money than average) to make harmless choices..

Re: County lines. The people, aged 50 plus, I know who are/ were big into drugs, include many black people. Raving was multicultural and massive back in the 80s and a lot of drug use stems from the dance scene. It's not just white people doing it.

Where did I say only white people take drugs? I said non white people are disproportionately effected by them. Thats statistical not just anecdotal.

Just to add, I don't think it's OK. County lines is devastating. I like to think that if I was still a drug-user, it would be one of the reasons I would stop.

@hagtry

Re: County lines. The people, aged 50 plus, I know who are/ were big into drugs, include many black people. Raving was multicultural and massive back in the 80s and a lot of drug use stems from the dance scene. It's not just white people doing it.

Where did I say only white people take drugs? I said non white people are disproportionately effected by them. Thats statistical not just anecdotal.

I didn't say you did say that.

You did say,'It certainly shows a lot of white, middle class privilege as it completes ignores county lines, etc. I guess BLM doesn't in this case. '

The majority of us who live in the West, have massive cognitive dissonance about so many things that we buy, and the harm they cause other people. Gold, phones, clothes. mange tout; It's incredibly sad, but unfortunately a person has to be exceptionally disciplined (and have more money than average) to make harmless choices..

So let's just ignore the impact of drugs in our own communities & keep using them because it's not your dc who are harmed & because some people buy cheap clothes. Ok...

@Charley50 You replied to my post saying It's not just white people doing it. Why the need to tell me that?

[quote littlepattilou]@Thecatsawinner

I know a couple in their 50’s that do a lot of recreational partying with mdma and Coke etc, they both look really well and you don't look their ages. They do however exercise and eat well.

@BillieSpain

Yes, me too.

Very healthy lifestyles otherwise. Not over weight, exercise and eat extremely well. Coke is apparently not as harmful as smoking, alcohol or being obese.

I think it is a 'holistic' view of drugs/lifestyle Take drugs but eat healthily, be obese but smoke. I'd rather take drugs.

I was born in the 70's and most of my friends are wealthy now. They take coke occasionally, drink nice wine, eat fabulous food and go the the gym and are looking great. It all depends...

Seriously though, some people I know in a certain industry are absolutely super healthy, they just do recreational coke. Why not?

They really won't be dropping down dead any time soon.

People have different tastes and ideas on how to unwind. No one is better than the other. (As long as you are functional, healthy, happy and DC's aren't involved, obviously)

@therocinante

I know a group of people - some are lawyers, judges, surgeons, all very well-to-do - who still take drugs at big blowout weekends a few times a year. They're all 60 now and healthy as you like...

@Chopinbaby

My parents are in their 50s and still party like this. My dad in particular takes a lot of MDMA at parties and stays up all night. He is rough for a few days afterwards and I’ve noticed his memory is shite but he is still pretty healthy and does a manual job. They had me as teens and have been like this all that time (I’m in my 30s now)

Just when I thought I had seen it all on here!!! These posts are just disturbing.

You have to be some kind of idiot to take recreational drugs in the first place. Even at Uni. Funnily enough, my DD and her various friendship groups (at home AND at uni,) managed to get through their teens, and uni years, without taking any drugs. (And so did me and DH, and our friendship groups...) You can still have a good time without sniffing coke and smoking weed for fuck's sake!

Some people act like it's 'cool' and some weird rite of passage to smoke weed or sniff coke. It's not. It just makes you a sad little sheep, who does drugs to look cool in front of their mates. (You don't by the way, you look ridiculous.)

Any anyone who is still doing in in their 30s, 40s, and 50s (or older,) is pathetic. And everyone who knows them will think that.

And as some posters have said, taking recreational drugs your whole life ages you and makes you look a hot mess. It will also result in a premature death.

Stop labelling it as something normal and cool, because it's neither. It's fucking stupid, and makes the people who take them, look like sad fools.

And it's funny how all these people the above posters know, who take drugs are all fit and slim, and 'super healthy!; Yeah right, SURE they are super healthy! Coz that what smoking weed and sniffing coke all of your adult life does to you; makes you super healthy. NOT! [/quote]
This
I managed to get through university without taking any type of drug despite the fact that I was surrounded by many who took everything going. Tbh, I just thought they looked stupid but at least they had the ‘excuse’ that they were young.
When you are in your thirties, forties and fifties and still taking drugs you just look pathetic.

Jesus I could think of nothing worse then still doing all of that shit.