To think far too many people in UK & elsewhere are making stupid decisions about drugs and ignoring the consequences re county lines, criminal gangs etc?

[Jane379]

I found out recently about the huge amount of cocaine in London sewage system. I knew there was a problem but was suprised how bad it was.
I read up on the situation a bit more and was shocked to find that Sweden & Belgium are apparently both concerned that the government starting to lose control to drug smugglers, problems are also rising in the Netherlands with journalists and lawyers mmurdered. Use also is rising in Norway especially among youth in Oslo etc.
AIBU to wonder what on earth people buying illegal cocaine & others are thinking?

A lot of the time it's not people in hugely depressing and difficult situations (not that this is an excuse, but I could understand the motive more) but people who are comfortably off, at least materially and surely could find other forms of stimulation?
It's well known that these drugs are addictive, and even if people aren't addicted and only use occasionally, why are so many happy to enable county lines, suffering in Mexico and others, violent criminal gangs etc for a temporary high? I've seen some users on here justify by saying the harm comes because it's illegal but that's dodging the question as for the foreseeable future they are illegal and buying from the gangs sustains the trade.

@PiggieWig The OP is questioning their use of drugs - it's you who has used the blanket term stupidity.

Touched a nerve there for a reason maybe.

Singapore has the right attitude to drug dealers. String 'em up

It's well known that these drugs are addictive, and even if people aren't addicted and only use occasionally, why are so many happy to enable county lines, suffering in Mexico and others, violent criminal gangs etc for a temporary high?

Do you really think your average drug user is capable of thinking through their actions?

Do you think anything in current western culture is allowed to get in the way of someone having fun?

Western culture is degenerated and most of its people are vacuous as all hell. People who think seriously about anything are considered weird outsiders, often labelled as neurodivergent nowadays. Anything to stop people thinking instead of participating in consumerist spend spend spend culture.

I come from an estate outside a major city which was covered in low-level drugs and dealers so I know exactly what kind of shit it entails. Most of the middle class I came across didn’t know and couldn’t have cared less anyway. It doesn’t help that the political class in London were setting the example of living the high life not long ago, not so sure about recently.

ed - I don’t know which way to vote on your poll because Yanbu to think these things should be considered, but beyond unreasonable to think they will be in modern British culture!

I cycled past someone last night, a rough-looking geezer with 2 rough-looking dogs on leads, joint in mouth. How can you control 2 dogs stoned?

I’m concerned about the amount of young people taking ketamine to the extent they permanently destroy their bladders. I’ve seen it through my work. Few people seem to know about this. Literally life changing damage being done

Me too re the harm.
I used to be quite blasé about it in terms of recreational use and I smoked a fair few joints back in the day (the 90s), but the stuff is much stronger now and seems to lead to more side effects. Adult DD smoked a lot around age 18/19 at uni and now it just makes her paranoid so she doesn’t (thankfully). DS tried it much younger; he has MH issues and had some mild psychosis so he thankfully, has given it up too (as far as I know - he’s at home now post-uni).

Agree with you @Iheartpasta . That’s what I mean about the under 25s. It’s heartbreaking. I see it a lot too - and I do see it as a failure of society for this group.

How much are they taking to get that? The first time someone told me that they snorted horse tranquillizer, I was stunned. You snort horse tranquillizer - what?

I worked briefly in a young persons MH unit. Most of the girls were there during to sexual abuse and the lads were psychotic due to weed. Yep I agree about the harm and the waste. I knew one lad who’d started dealing to try to support his family, specifically his mum and baby sister when their violent dad had walked out on them. Good lad at root, and terrified of the hallucinations he was having. I couldn’t stay, I couldn’t work in that kind of environment forever. They have to live in it.

The sexed and sexist society that drugs create ain’t great either. Goes hand in hand with abuse and prostitution for girls and women.

Testing wastewater within the sewage syatem can identify the type, and amount, of drugs being used within the area.
Ive not seen the results for uk but was reading about Austalia which has seen massive rises in meth.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/29/methamphetamine-crystal-meth-ice-australia-second-largest-consumer

This is something that needs to be publicised a lot more. The consequences are not widely known and lots of young people think that what they are taking is harmless. I think the consequences and people sharing real like stories to young people would be a strong deterrent.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-68826392

If the Greens get power, your local vape shop will be able to expand its range of products to include hash, ketamine, MDMA etc

It can happen very quickly, I also see this at work, as I work with children/families.

Young people think they are invincible, and it won't happen to them.

I would suggest that rather than a campaign based on Drugs are Bad For You why not one that highlights the impact that drug production has?

Make it unacceptable in the way Drink Driving once was

I would also suggest some sort of legal provision of supplies for existing addicts as used to happen in the past.

People are willing to overlook any amount of human suffering and other consequences as long as they get what they want.

Drugs, cheap goods from Shein / Temu, cheap meat...

Drink and drug driving are both on the increase, not as socially unacceptable as they used to be. Round my way, it's driving supercharged cars whilst inhaling balloons filled with nitrous oxide.

Dd's ex-school did 'ket bladder' and drugs awareness, after two Y11s overdosed in the toilets.

We have reached the point where kids snort horse tranquillizer in the school toilets? It beggars belief.

Why dont we treat them like sex and gun offenders given the risk they pose?

As soon as you start legalising drugs the cartels see the country as a soft touch that they can use as a base.

The Netherlands and Amsterdam have been widely described as a narco state because of the escalation in organised crime and drug trade,

The idea of legalising drugs is a really, really bad one for a whole host of reasons.

Yes, I do have some sympathy with Portugal style policies but they haven't decriminalised drugs willy-nilly. The problem is that stuff like cocaine & heroin & others like marijuana do have dangers, they have to be controlled. Right now a lot of people buying aren't addicts, they're buying for other reasons. If cocaine etc were legalised in a controlled way (eg as in Portugal) these people still wouldn't be able to legally buy them party drug style.

I was thinking this. Adverts on the Tube etc could show partying coke users next to county lines exploiting teenagers, cartels threatening Mexican villagers, environmental damage.
Agree also re supplies to existing addicts.

People need clothes and food though many can avoid Shein etc. Drugs are not necessary in the same way.