Cocaine use

[user1490969170]

I am 36 and don't use cocaine. Never have. Although none of my closest friends do, it has become common place in my wider group of friends and acquaintances. It's mainly used by the blokes recreationally. All family men. Often there wives don't know at all, or aren't aware of the extent.

Is this pretty normal? Am I just naive?

@Lanareyrey @Riverlee -I saw a message flash up on his Apple Watch from his dealer. The I asked him and he lied a bit and minimised it. Then eventually he told the truth. We were going through a. H it if s rough patch with other stuff (my lovely dd got assaulted just before Christmas which has been seismic and awful). This came out about two week later. I don't think I'd processed it as I was of course concentrating on DD. It's only as that's slightly settled down that I've had time to consider DP and what that all means. He is going to counselling and has agreed to hair stand tests etc etc if if want them. But I don't know if it will be enough. I believe he wants to stop and will-but it doesn't cancel the last year and a half's worth of lies.

Sorry to the pop whose marriage is over because of this. It's just so needless.

Also sorry about my typos-bloody auto correct!

So sorry to hear this. How long has he been using? It’s going to be a long road to recovery for him and it’s the long term they’ve done to their brains from it. Know someone who is an ex addict and now struggles to hold down a job, make decisions etc.

@PolaDeVeboise

I'm in Scotland, and you can get 'cooncil' which is mixed with speed and is @ £40 or 'good' and it's between £60 and £100, apparently.

What council you getting mixed with speed?

@Dyrene

I’m not aware of it in my social circle. My H describes the sales people at his work as all on coke though.

Personally, I think you may as well shoot a Central American in the head yourself if you’re going to do coke. Talk about an unethical supply chain.

I can all but guarantee you that you have bought something with an unethical supply chain. 100%.

I'm not, was speaking to my cousins who do it regularly and they told me. I used to partake often when I lived in London 20 years ago, and it came up in conversation.

Cocaine is addictive

For many it’s not the addiction to the drug but the lifestyle out Saturday night at first just use a little and enjoying the buzz then often moves on to not being about to enjoy the night with out the buzz of Cocaine

The for some it starts creeping onto their everyday life, need a bit of an energy boost, have some before going out, sitting at home using alone because you just love the feeling

It’s only when you stop using or have never used but can recognise the signs you realise what twats people are when on coke

Signs are over talkative, self absorbed exaggerated stories, not a amusing as they think they are, argumentative, obnoxious that can easily topple over to aggression

I used to love it but I am well aware I was one of those twats (not sure I ever got aggressive but certainly a sense of grandiose)

Sorry, that was a reply to @Morgan12

I think it's gross. Decriminalisation all sounds good - look at how well it has worked in Portugal (well reductions in a lot of areas not least in drug offences unsurprisingly) - not worked so well in Amsterdam/the Netherlands though with organised crime wanting a slice of the drug tourist action and shootings leaving the police concerned it's turning into a narco state.
The term decrim' is highly misleading IMO, where it works it's looking at harm reduction not legalisation. Where it's tolerated and turned a blind eye to it just opens the place up to organised crime.

Why is it so expensive?

Probably all his adult life on and off but very rarely. He could go years without. He's not sitting pining after it (he says). Its only recently it has become more habitual. I believe him when he says he can stop.It's just what happens when he goes out out next time and has a few drinks-depends who he's with and where I suppose as to how dangerous an environment it is for him in terms of this. And tbh I don't want to have to sit and worry about it all the time-it's no way to live. We have 4 DD's between us. Two full on Jobs. Older parents. House stuff. I'm about to turn 40. I just don't want to have to give it the headspace at this point in my life. It's making me feel sad and tired.

@Valenciaoranges

If you have been affected by cocaine use, you would never say it is like alcohol. While alcohol is clearly addictive for some people, which is awful, it is nothing like the effects of cocaine. It is a horrid drug, made from whatever the dealers can put into it to make as much money as possible. People are exploited all the way through the supply chain. The devastation this and other drugs has on families is something you would not wish to witness: lying, cheating, stealing, neglecting children, vile and erratic behaviour, psychosis to name a few. I don't know if decriminalisation would work, but it is not the same as alcohol.

Coming from a family that has been devastated by alcohol, I'd have to call bullshit on this one.

If you look at how many people die per 1000 users, its compatible to alcohol. Smoking is more harmful. Mdma is safer, same risk as going for a hike and far less violence caused by it. It should be decriminalised. The current system isn't stopping people from using it

Less violence caused by coke than hiking ? Can we have the reference ?

Yes it's widespread, I personally hate it for all the reasons other's have described. As for comparing it to alcohol- it's rare you find one without the other, as other's mentioned it helps prolong the pleasant effects of alcohol without slurring, falling over or falling asleep.

I think there should be a massive crackdown on coke, target all dealers and users and hand out long sentences of 10+ years unless they provide information that leads to the successful conviction of their supplier.

@Morgan12

Thank you for saying that as that is where I was coming from. I spent the best part of last year in temporary accommodation in a deprived area. Cocaine use was rife (don’t get how as it’s so expensive’ which might be why some are in temp accommodation, but I digress).

Nothing I have come across in that hostel type environment of mainly males, was worse that what I have seen with alcohol in both sexes.
Just the outward appearances of alcohol alone is upsetting— the swollen face and yellowing eyes.

Some functional alcoholics don’t need much to experience a complete personality change, maybe just a few drinks and therefore can’t be held to account for outrageous, erratic, often violent, behavior. And the standard alcoholic personality in those less prone to overt violence! I think it makes people evil !
And vodka can absolutely kill you in one sitting, or a baby if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

I know this thread isn’t about comparing the two, and I totally agree that legalizing cocaine will just make things worse for some people, but I guess I’m not too critical of its somebody’s drug of choice.

@Lanareyrey

Yep it’s pretty disgusting to be honest!! Happily sniff a line off a dirty toilet seat but won’t get a vaccination. So ignorant.

Yeah! when we were kids (12 plus) we used to soak the bathroom so they wouldn't have anywhere to do it. We felt pretty clever until we found a plate in my mams bedside drawer. so they'll probably come prepared with a little tupperware box to the pub just incase they need to use the lid

@Morgan12
I'm so sorry for the devastation you have experienced from alcohol.
I guess what we should be doing is dealing with the root causes of addiction rather than saying one addiction is worse than another, because we have all experienced the effects of addiction.
Unfortunately I have seen addiction across the board, from gambling to drugs to excessive spending and alcohol.

This comes around quite a lot on MN. Yes, lots of people do coke. You'd be surprised how many. If someone you know is affluent, lives in a major city and likes to party a lot, the chances are they're doing it at least occasionally.

I done it a couple of times years ago after pressure from exdh. One of my friends was in a relationship for a year with a guy who took it. In his 40's, works offshore. She tried to justify it by saying he was a nice guy in every other way bjt when they split I found out the true story. He also had an alcohol problem and they never went out because be spent all his money on coke. I was quite shocked as she introduced him to her kids very quickly and he was part of their lives.
I wouldnt entertain anyone who takes it.

Pretty common in my experience among parents at my kids school. (Professionals in their 40s) I've tried it and hate it (many years ago). I have no wish to be around those taking it either. Turns people into assholes. Wish they would swap to MDMA.

Isn't it quite expensive? If it's as rife as people say, no wonder people can't afford houses. It's not avocado toast, it's cocaine.

(semi ironic - I only know one person tangentially who uses it)

Really normal.

I'm a recovering cocaine addict, 5 years clean. Wish I never touched it, all it does is ruin life's. I still have friends addicted to it and doesn't look like they'll ever get clean.

People who use cocaine are disgusting, or any drugs in fact. But yes it is fairly widespread, people as always are more concerned with themselves having a good night out, or having a bump to keep them working through tiredness rather than those exploited in the supply chain both abroad and here.

@Canaloha

People who use cocaine are disgusting, or any drugs in fact. But yes it is fairly widespread, people as always are more concerned with themselves having a good night out, or having a bump to keep them working through tiredness rather than those exploited in the supply chain both abroad and here.

Little kids in the Congo are exploited so we can have mobile phones and laptops. Is everyone who has expressed outrage at the morals of cocaine users going to give them up too?