To think people are naive re cocaine

[Knockonw00d]

I see threads on here all the time where women find out their husband has been doing coke etc and are absolutely floored.
But it always amazes me how oblivious people are to how common it really is. I’m childfree and in my late 20s and i go on nights out almost every week so you get to know all of the other regulars in the bars. I do not know one person that I’ve met through going out that doesn’t do cocaine.

These people have professional jobs Monday - Friday. Some of them I know are teachers, nursery staff, work in the passport office. It is so common.

I also see a lot posters describing a change in behaviour and people suggest it could be drugs. But unless you’re doing things like heroin or spice, cocaine does not make you act in the ways people suggest.

Do people really not know how common casual use of cocaine is in this country?

I don't think it's especially naïve to think that something that something people generally aren't open about (at work or in one's social circles) is less common than it actually is. Nor do I particularly see the benefit of being knowledgeable about exactly how common it is tbh. The people on MN calling others naïve about drugs usually seem to be the ones minimising their effects or in denial about their own or their partner's habits. Of course it's common. Is it even more common than I think? Probably. I won't be losing any sleep over that.

Because they can and do remove people from employment for illegal activity.

Ireland is a gem for drug dealers bringing tons of cocaine in, there is very little security along the coast, there has been millions intercepted, a lot passes, weapons too.
Naval security is extremely poor.
They are setting up a new European naval security team to monitor the water.

I know of people in the following jobs that use cocaine:

University lecturer, NHS nurse, prison officer, surveyor, lorry driver. So many people. Most are parents.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t used it in a few years and hopefully never will again. But I don’t drink anymore. Most people use when having alcohol.

And yes I agree most people are naive to it. Even if you think “no one in my circle uses it” you’ll be very, very wrong.

This makes no sense though. You’re suggesting all employers should have mandatory drug tests for everyone- weekly- so they can catch illegal activity* because it’s “everyone's business” (what a meaningless sound bite)

it’s clearly a ridiculous idea, breeches the clear line between work and private life, and allows a corporation to dictate your spare time. I don’t believe anyone really wants to live in that world.

*not sure it’s actually illegal to test positive for drugs, but still

There was plenty around in certain circles in the early 80s (inevitably known as Charlie then)

It's where I formed my opinion of its effects, having seen enough people behave like wankers on it and at least a few screw their lives up. Yes, alcohol can also be an incredibly destructive drug but the production of gin, wine and beer (for eg) is not dependent on major criminality, the abuse of children and everything else associated with the coke supply chain.

I'm glad companies are testing. Can you say what industry?

I haven't said weekly. You may feel it's meaningless, I think more people should stand up to illegal drug use quite frankly and the consequences should be greater.

In all seriousness if all drugs were legalised would the violence that goes into the production process to down?

Mid twenties, never done cocaine in my entire life, been focusing on my children I had my first at only 16 so never had time for partying. Apparently I’m the loser, but I know loads of people in their late thirties who spent their twenties shovelling shit up their noses and having abortions so kids didn’t inconvenience their lifestyle who’ve admitted they wish theyd had kids.

not to mention the ketamin bladders

I was absolutely naive about it until I met a functioning user in a well paid who was my ex boyfriend. In his 50s.
He gaslit me and denied it but I swear he was using it regularly. See my old threads. I absolutely didn't want to believe it but I was thoroughly taken in by him.

Signs were sniffing (allergies you know) mood swings, short of cash, massive alcohol intake and being able to drink without getting drunk.
Narcissistic tendencies, multiple short lived relationships. Ex raver. Admitted to all the other drugs but denied using cocaine weirdly.

Alcohol and prescription drugs, when taken by the person prescribed for, aren't illegal.

Re anti-psychotic, if prescribed, it would be more irresponsible not to take it than to take it.

Your point isn't very coherent. Are you on coke right now?

OP I’d take this as a sign to review your social circle or activities. If you were someone who didn’t go out weekly or regularly (like most people) you’d see that most people enjoy themselves doing much lower octane stuff than class As. I can recommend cookery and gardening?

Companies have drug policies, with a sanction of dismissal, for a reason, because it impairs ability.

Cocaine can be tested for up to 4 days after usage. It stays in the body, even if affects are reduced.

If the government wants to reduce knife crime in cities I think they need to enforce testing in companies.

Is your concern legality (an employer has no legal powers, obviously, so that would be very strange) or ability to do the job (which is the employers concern) if the latter why is a weekend Cocaine user be any riskier than a drinker?
Prescription drugs of all kinds have side effects (some like anti psychotics can be very serious) so what difference does legality make if you’re concerned about job performance?

Your point isn't very coherent. Are you on coke right now?

are you always this thick?

A company policy is up to them.

The poster is suggesting companies should be mandated (presumably by law since there is no other way to get them to comply) to test all their employees. Not the drivers, not the machine operators, all of them. To see if they did drugs at the weekend.

God this thread is depressing

But it has been interesting watching people who called me a loser wasting their lives and money shoving shit up their noses one even admitted she got pregnant at 16 too but had an abortion she now regrets because drugs destroyed her fertility

Sure, medical technology. So pretty important that everyone is as with it as they can be!

? That sounds like bollocks. Do you really still think about this decades later? At least you won and every single one of them lost, anyway.

I think it might to some extent but I'm sure exploitation and shady practices would still be rife. I'd also worry that removing barriers to drug use might mean more people try and use drugs that might not have previously. Also legal drugs would probably be expensive and a black market for drugs would likely still exist along with all the crap that currently goes with drugs.

Ideally life would be such that people wouldn't feel the need for that level of escapism. I saw a documentary in the BBC where people were in danger of losing their bladders due to Ketamine use, one man, who was married with kids had to install a mini portable toilet in his car boot his bladder was so damaged and yet he still used.

I know i am biased and only see the worst of it ( i work in a hospital, often in A&E) but cocaine is a vile drug. It destroys lives and relationships, and in extreme cases people's mental health for a long time.
It might be normal in terms of use, but it is nasty. Also using is condoning the exploitation, pollution and crime that is part of production and distribution.

Statistics suggest 5-10% of the population as a whole uses cocaine. I wouldn't call that "common" across the population but it is common in some industries and some groups. You'd expect to see it in nightclubs, maybe not so much at NCT meetings.

I can’t echo that strongly enough. It’s a chain of broken lives from Colombia all the way to the west. I had a patient who was a retired Guyanese police officer, he said British Guyana used to be a nice safe country now it’s a staging post for cocaine from Colombia to the Caribbean and onto USA/ Europe and it’s overrun with gangs. So that people can get off their tits on a Friday night ☹️.

I judge you harshly, OP. Do you support slavery? Recreational illegal drugs come to people like you because poor people in other countries are pressured into carrying and smuggling them. Sometimes they die.

It’s so ironic that many right-on people love their coke and manage to ignore how it’s produced in the same way rich people like them turned a blind eye to slavery while they enjoyed their sugar in the past.