To consider moving because kids found woman passed out on crack?

[DrugsWorry]

In the park earlier this week, my DS and some friends (all 7/8) found a man who was passed out on crack (he had a crack pipe, so it was crack).

We phoned an ambulance, dealt with it, told the kids a fib, but I am deeply freaked out by it and am even willing to consider moving house. Drug dealing is becoming more open and prevalent in our neighbourhood in London and I am increasingly feeling that I don’t want my kids growing up around it.

I’ve lived in London all my life and have never seen anything like this.

YABU = this is part of urban living, suck it up.
YANBU = get out of there.

Where have you gone, OP?

Yea because Richmond, Twickenham, Kensington, Dulwich, Hampstead etc are all horrible places to raise children! London is a big place...

When I’ve become aware of something that I want to protect ds from has happened to close to home I feel I want to move away from London I think this is a perfectly natural way to feel

sadly there are many places that you will find similar issues some places it is more prevalent usually poorer areas. Some parts of London open drug use has certainly increased I think especially since 2020 and crack use has increased

I can understand how you feel and there are many places that you are far less likely to have deal with such issues

I’d want my money back if the crack I bought made me pass out 🤣

I call BS to this thread. OP, where in london was this?
I've lived in london most of my life (moved to a northern city for university) and have never witnessed what you've described.

I've live in Highbury (pre gentrification), archway, Camden, West Hampstead and Ealing.
There is always some thread bashing london yet the house prices don't match up. If it's such a cesspit why oh why are family homes so expensive? Who's buying them?

I grew up in London and am surprised that you're surprised this happened. I also spent 12 years in Brighton, don't move there if you don't want to see people passed out on drugs!

OP, I went through a similar thing this week when I had to navigate not one, but TWO crackheads when exiting the subway (not in the UK). I walked home dithering over whether we should just give up and move to the suburbs, but then I thought of boring restaurants, lack of diversity and having to drive to get milk and decided I'd rather deal with the crackheads.

Crack doesn't make people "pass out". Well, not until their hearts go pop.

I was born and raised in london and saw this type of thing on a daily basis... I’ve lived in Brighton for 14 years and still see this just Not as often. Often see used needles at the back of my work. You just have to get on, people want to ruin thier lives with drugs that’s on them. It sucks that the kids saw but as they grow older and get more independent they will see more of this. Just prepare them best you can.

Drug dealing, stabbings and terrorist attacks were why I left London in the end. I witnessed so many awful things that would never happen in the small middle class town I live in now. Yes the diversity is awful where I am now and there isn’t so much to do but I don’t worry for my kids safety in the way I did in London.

I've lived in london very surprised you have never seen anything like this before. Now I live in a very boring average middle England town and yes seen people fucked up in the park fairly regularly.

This may or may not help your decision on moving - I once lived in what is one of the most deprived areas of my town. Someone passed out on heroin right outside my garden infront of my dd who was around 3 at the time. An abulamce had to be called. I would walk her to nursery where it was a regular occurance to have someone walk past at midday with alcohol in one hand and a joint in the other. I moved, partly because I didn't want to bring my dd up in that area but that wasn't the main reason for my move. I now live in what is classed as one of the most affluent areas of my town and omg it is worse. There is more drug dealers in this street, drug raids, constant stench of weed and even worse.. the neighbour smokes crack cocaine and my house smells of it often. Moral of this story - it is everywhere. It doesn't matter where you go.

"Lack of diversity" this bit stood out.

Why would this be a make or break factor? What difference could it make, the race of your neighbours? What do kids learn from living next door to any randomers - except the obvious, most people are mostly decent even though they might do 'x' where we do 'y'.

I might be missing something, it's possible!

I live in a nice quiet area and one was found few doors up from me.

I live in London and have done for 20+ years. Never once seen anyone actually passed out from drugs. Alcohol, yes.

I grew up in a supposedly safe backwater in the south west in the 80s and 90s and drugs were absolutely rife there.

I really think I've led a sheltered life reading the posts on this thread. I live on one of the British isles islands, we do have a drug problem but you don't see it unless you are part of it. They come down hard on any drug charges & tougher sentences than on mainland uk. We are by default very insular seaside places. Cost of living is much higher, but am shocked reading that this is pretty much considered normality for a huge majority.
I've worked here in both health care & judicial services. For us it's the minority & even then you don't see it when out & about.
It's so sad that posters are agreeing this is what you expect to see.

Lots to think about and lots of different views. For everyone saying drugs are everywhere, I think @CheesyTattie puts it well - there’s drugs being everywhere and then there’s your kids thinking they’ve found a dead body in the park.

It’s funny, the mix of responses saying ‘I’ve never seen anything like this’ and others saying ‘I’m surprised you’re surprised’. I guess that reflects my own confusion about it. And I suppose whether you’ve seen something like this depends on personal experience, where you’ve lived etc.

To anyone asking why I lied to my DC, that’s my judgement call. A bit older, at 10 or so, I’d have told the truth. But my decision is that 7 is too young for a teachable moment about this particular issue, taking my child’s personality into account.

@22Namechangegame Why would I BS about something like this? Report me if you have an issue with it. Surely all these responses demonstrate the flaw in your logic- you have never seen anything like this but clearly other people have.

I call BS because of how vague you are being. Which part of london was this?

If this is a local park there would be an escalation of antisocial behaviour - you don't mention this?

And honestly, something about your written tone reminds me of friends who visit london for the first time and are shocked that the tube is so busy.

Why haven't I reported you? It's a waste of time and your little fable isn't hurting me.

Can't wait for instalment no.2 - "passed out crack man gets a BAE"

I grew up in inner London and witnessed all sorts. But I did view things differently when I had my own kids.

Yes, the things I say growing up I really don't want my dc to witness although I don't think I was particular affected by them including people passed out from drugs. However you know your area & whether it feels like it's getting worse or is a one off.

Everywhere just seems to stink off weed round near us, even at parks and play areas, not good

This actually does do my head, it stinks.

An accident? You don’t accidentally smoke a crack pipe.

For what it’s worth OP, we’ve had periods of high drug use in our neighborhood in London. It’s always rough sleepers looking for somewhere quiet to smoke crack or inject heroin. It’s never been enough to make me want to move house and it always seems to go away after a while. Sadly it’s a part of life in many places.

What do you mean “If this is a local park there would be an escalation of antisocial behaviour”? I don’t know why you’re finding it so hard to believe that a man passed out on drugs could be found in a park. Have you ever been to a park in London? Some of them are vast. I’ve walked through Battersea park many times and seen homeless people sleeping under bushes (or maybe passed out). It doesn’t lead to an “escalation in antisocial behaviour”. People tend to just walk by and not pay them any attention.

Lots of bubble safe places on this thread eg Dulwuch, Kensington, Wandsworth etc. May be less crime but plenty of drug use & often a complete lack of understanding how that drug use impacts crime.

OP of course YANBU to not want your kids to witness that. I grew up in central London (very central - WC1) - and my experiences included finding a used needle in my primary school playground, walking past a dead body crime scene on the way to school, and having to ask a junkie to stop shooting up so I could get into my friend’s flats (those flats would cost an absolute bomb nowadays!)
I found all this very exciting and scary as a child but there’s no way I’d bring my own kids up in London. Now live in a small city where I know there are neighbourhoods with drug problems because I read about it in the paper but I’ve never encountered anything personally, in my neighbourhood, my friends’ neighbourhoods or the centre.

It doesn’t matter if posters are happy to live next to a crack den. What are your instincts telling you?
Some would’ve seen the scenario and thought, ‘it’s normal’.

As posters have said, people passing from drugs is not “everywhere”.
You know the lifestyle you want for your children. Listen to your instincts. Move, if that’s they’re telling you.

In your situation, I’d move tbh