[Closed] The Ubiquity of Drugs

I remember dealers openly walking around the campsites shouting out "HASH, TRIPS, Es, WHIZZ; GET YOUR HASH, TRIPS, Es, WHIZZ"

You mean it's not like this any more?

Not been since about 1992, there were scallies shouting "black 'ash" and "pills" just about everywhere then.

I'd be very surprised if drugs were MORE ubiquitous now. If that's not an oxymoron anyway.

Crystal Meth is getting more common in certain scenes, especially the gay chem sex scene.Users I've met seem to be able to operate in real life

But what if its arisan coke, made in a small town in Yorkshire?

Sour dough coke anyone?

Only festival I've been to this year - Eden Festival - plenty of dope being smoked there, tbh it is probably one of the "crustier" fests.

Through my 20's dope was thing amongst me and my friends - everyday, some grew their own. Had plenty of other mates on E and speed but I preferred dope. One day I just stopped. As have all my friends now. Now I just like brown drinks, however alcohol is by far and away the worst abused "drug" out there. Lost family members to it eventually. I truly despise the hypocrisy of the "war on drugs" which simply drives the criminal economy.

Drac - sorry dude you simply are wrong on this. Understandable as you only will ever see the problem users and widening the definition of addiction is about medicalising a social issue.

more than 10% of the population use illegal drugs. Probaly far more than that on a saturday night out.

You simply will never see the non problem users who are the vast majority. I have known doctors, nurse, lawyers, police, teachers ( in the far past) all of whom use drugs recreationally and all of whom have never had any issues with them ie still go to work on time and straight, don't get into debt or legal trouble, don't crash their cars or get into fights

Police and ambulance service will allways have a skewed vision of drug users simply because the few problem users cause so much trouble and these are the only drug users they come up against

Great video, Drac.

TJ trust me your wrong I know what I see in my job and it's not just the problem users.

I have known doctors, nurse, lawyers, police, teachers ( in the far past) all of whom use drugs recreationally and all of whom have never had any issues with them ie still go to work on time and straight, don't get into debt or legal trouble, don't crash their cars or get into fights

What you mean just like demonstrated in that video, so I'm right then.

Police and ambulance service will allways have a skewed vision of drug users simply because the few problem users cause so much trouble and these are the only drug users they come up against

The problem is you think that.

Drac - sorry dude - what non problem users have you come into contact with?

You are wrong on this because of your skwed sample you have met.

How would somone who has had a couple of ills in a club, danced all night and then walked home happily come into contact with your service?

Edit - no the problem is that you think the unrepesentative sample you come accross is representative.

social model V medical model

Go on drac - what non problem users have yo met professionally? Under what circumstances.

YOu will never see the vast majority of drug users who have no problems.

TJ you have absolutely no idea what I have met why are you trying to tell me what I have, where have I even claimed that all drug users are a problem?

Go on drac - what non problem users have yo met professionally? Under what circumstances.

Well it's simple, attending for none drug related incidents where there tell me there history or what they have taken that day or recently.

YOu will never see the vast majority of drug users who have no problems.

FFS! I forgot how painful you are.

Edit - crossed posts. Ok so incidental then. their drug use was not a problem

I haven't said that Drac. I am asking you when you have met professionally non problem users. I cannot see how someone would come into contact with your service unless they were having problems

Jesus that's because of your thinking not mine

Drac - I'll drop it 'cos its going nowhere.

Sorry -0 I forgot myself in turning informative discussion into banging heads. apologies.

Please do as your arguing about what patients I see, I think I know the answer that better than you.

What is worth remembering is the 'culture' in the town centres before this revolution. It consisted of people called Bazza and Tommo going out in their shit Top Man suits, drinking 20 pints of Fosters in some stand up shithole called Rumours, or something equaelly crap, while listening to booming Stock, Aitkin and Waterman pop pap, then having a fight outside a kebab house
Drug use has had a massively positive effect on our culture. Though of course this truism is one that dare not be pointed out, for fear of being burnt at the stake. Deal with it!! This country really does need to address its pathetic, juevenile, in-denial, totally ineffectual just-say-no attitude to drug use"

This x1000. Back in the early eighties, every weekend was a nightmare of vomit, blood n broken glass

Went to the SW4 festival last year with the g/f. Strict searches on entry....

I think we were the only two people there not drinking, smoking or taking any form of substance (save caffeine)!

The stench of weed and the ridiculous number of wraps on the floor explained the number of people totally off their faces, and I mean that literally!

It actually ruined the event for me TBH as I felt it very stressful that pretty much everyone was out of control.
Won't do that gig again!

When up in [s]Drug[/s]Manchester, one of the most sad (as in 'upsetting') circumstances was the occasions when Mrs Baron was called to echo a coke head's heart - often less than 35 YO.

For all intents and purposes (i.e. playing football with yer nippers, etc.), the ticker was pretty much f00ked.

I'd be very surprised if drugs were MORE ubiquitous now. If that's not an oxymoron anyway.

Tautology 😉

lol @

I just completed Gran Tourismo on the hardest setting

I always liked that line.

lazybike - Member
I would say I've lost more friends to alcohol than to drugs...

At my age I've seen quite a lot of friends and family die. When I was young it was motorbikes, but from my 30s on it has been smoking tobacco.

There's been a few drug deaths, but mainly people who over indulge just screw up their lives.

Smoking eclipses everything, and why the hell the directors of tobacco companies aren't in prison, only the recipients of the [s]large bribes[/s], sorry, political donations know.

I just completed Gran Tourismo on the hardest setting

I liked that, but don't recognise it. I found myself reading it in Mike Skinner's rhythm/voice. Is it his?

Edit: pasted into another tab. Yes.

Its an interesting point that countries that have gone away from the "war on drugs" have far less issues with drugs causing damage to society

the Netherlands, Portugal, and IIRC now some south american countries

A comparison with heroin addiction in the netherlands to the UK is startling.

I'm sure that like most people who've encountered a lot of drugs in their life, what stands out, now that i think about it, is what an absolutely tiny minority of people actually have any 'drug problems'

I'm sure my experience is similar to most

1. Start experimenting with drugs
2. have a right old laugh, on account of them being bloody great fun!
3. Grow out of it
4. Get on with life

The trouble is that when it deviates from that course, the consequences tend to be pretty dire.
the other problem is that the ridiculous 'war on drugs' makes this far more likely, and then actiavely prevents any issues that arise actually being addressed

It really is totally bloody stupid! But such is the head in the sand attitude of the authorites, terrified of Leah Betts tyle tabloid hysteria, that I can't see this changing any time soon

I've never been interested in smoking weed, at Uni (when first exposed to it) I was going through a fitness phase and didn't want to smoke anything. These days I'm going through an unfit/fat phase and have enough problems with snacking without adding weed to the equation :p From what others around me say though it can be harder to get hold of than speed/coke/crack/smack.

As for other drugs, most of the issues I see with them are the crap it's mixed with & not knowing it's strength, not saying legalising and regulating drugs will solve all the problems relating to it, far from it, but the current situation certainly isn't working either.

OP, If she went to Glastonbury then she missed out the drug most of the young people seemed to be taking. Come 11 PM it was like being involved in a zombie movie as the Ketamine Kiddies took over - they didn't even look like they were having much fun!

Cocaine is not addictive in the real sense of the word

That doesn't even mean anything. The "real" sense of the word? As in the definition? Cocaine is hugely influential in behaviour and habit forming, which is what makes it addictive. Just like alcohol, riding a bike, using a smartphone, and arguing.

Three fish. the real meaning of addiction is that you get physical withdrawal symptoms when you stop. Like alcohol, heroin and barbiturates / benzodiazipines.

Medical establishment especially in the US ant to use a much wider definition that would include things like you say as this means inthe US they canmake money off it. I believe as do many professionals this to be wrong. the whole concept of "psychological" addiction is very much disputed and IMO is not at all useful

apart from anything else it cause great confusion and makes it harder to treat the real addictions.

There's a couple of places that you can get some very interesting information from via podcasts. Check out say why to drugs, which just gives out the information that is known and also leap UK, who are definitely worth your time to investigate

and arguing

Sick burn!

Coke can be destructively habit-forming, end of story.

The rest is semantics and you should know better TBH.

Police and ambulance service will always have a skewed vision of drug users simply because the few problem users cause so much trouble and these are the only drug users they come up against

In what feels like a previous life I was in the police in Glasgow from the late 1970s onwards working in some rough areas - Maryhill Possilpark. Hard as it is to believe now when I first started there wasn't widespread drug use there. Drug cases were so rare the Drug Squad handled most of them. In the early 80s it exploded. My anecdotal impression was that when cannabis and heroin use became huge it reduced some crimes of disorder. The number of fighting drunks seemed to go down. Rather than going out getting drunk and fighting they were getting stoned. From the policing point of view give me someone who has smoked a couple of joints over a drunk any day of the week.

Of course my experience was only one viewpoint at one place and time. I did wonder whether I was remembering correctly how little drugs use there was in the late 1970s. A quick google suggests I was. From Hansard 1981

The report claims that, after a steady but small rise in drug addiction in Glasgow since the early 1970s, it shot up by 388 per cent. in the first six months of this year.

one of the report's authors, has told me in conversation—this is not in the report—that the addicts come largely from working-class backgrounds. In the past this type of addiction has tended to be in university towns where there are large student populations and among children and young people from a more middle class background

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1981/oct/22/drug-abuse-glasgow

Much of problems drugs cause are a consequence of the fact they are illegal. If you are a drug dealer and someone rips you off you can't take them to court can you?

As for users - it has to be dangerous , depending on the drug, when you have little idea of the purity or dosage of the substance you are injecting, or swallowing.

When even large parts of the USA are legalising cannabis it looks like the way forward. Other drugs? I don't know but I'd listen to arguments from people that do. We have tried prohibition and it hasn't worked.

the real meaning of addiction is that you get physical withdrawal symptoms when you stop.

You're referring to chemical addiction. Other addictions are available.

I'm still astounded that marijuana is legal in several US states. There are ads on bus stops for it in San Francisco and every other suburban house seems to be growing a few plants. Canada is about to legalise it too. It's a triumph of common sense. The Lib Dems had legalisation in their manifesto here but I'll not hold my breath on it changing in the UK in my lifetime.

As with so many things in life, Richard Pryor summed it up perfectly....

[i]Cocaine? Gonna get hooked, not on no coke, you can't get hooked, my friends been snorting 15 years, they ain't hooked. ... I'm not addicted to coke, i just love the way it smells![/i]

Weed does seem to be disappearing among the younger generation

Loads of da yoof smoking it in the streets of Cambridge, smell it all the time.

Surprised someone said they think weed use is declining, where I live it seems more prevalent than ever, hard to walk through town without smelling it or vans driving past and the smell wafting out.

The new graduates I encounter seem to drink far far less, if at all compared to me and my friends at there age.

Three_Fish - Member

the real meaning of addiction is that you get physical withdrawal symptoms when you stop.

You're referring to chemical addiction. Other addictions are available.

Back to semantics. Ok lets drop the word addiction as it has so many uses and definitions in peoples minds. Use physical dependency and psychological if you want.

When you see someone withdrawing from alcohol or benzos and fitting uncontrollably requiring large amounts of tranquilsers to stop them - and they can die from it or Heroin withdrawal where they are shitting and puking uncontrollably ( but they won't die) it seem very differnt to someone being abit grumpy for a few days "withdrawing" from cocaine.

I suppose part of my issue is seeing folk claiming addiction to weed as an excuse for being a horrible scally in court.

If you are a drug dealer and someone rips you off you can't take them to court can you?

I've been witness to a few beatings of people imposing on other people "patches" as well even a very low levels in the schemes. (curious experience one time, I was actually in a room smoking with 2 mates(the afore mentioned fools that took the 9 bars) then the door gets battered in, those 2 skelped about a bit and warned, was later told I wasn't touched as they knew i wasn't involved and they knew I was in there 😆 phew! ) (Why did I not back up my mates? trust me you wouldn't have either, they had to take their medicine, escalation didn't bear thinking about!)

I've only limited experience there, as I was quite happy to let others go to the shady spots to get stuff. I'd another scary experience when i was 16 or so with dodgy characters in a house in Castlemilk jokingly threatening me with tazers(aye they are joking, but they were clearly the type that could turn on you in a second). Taught me a valuable lesson to stay the **** away from the really shady characters. From the above, you can tell some didn't learn that lesson...

Guess the point in sharing this is really just to illustrate that the picture is a bit more complicated than, some people get addicted, some people don't. it's quite a difficult area to generalize I think, and there are wider social issues caused not just from the consumption.

Needless to say, I'm very against the complicit approval the government gives to the black market.

Cocaine is not addictive in the real sense of the word

If you fall, really far, it's not the damage to your body that kills you, it's the [i]shock [/i]of the hitting the ground that does you in.

Apologies. 🙂

Ok lets drop the word addiction

Tell you what, let's drop the word 'real' instead and then try again. Addiction is an umbrella term and *needs* to be broadly termed, not limited to chemical intercourse.

If you could find a ready supply off ethically sourced, Fairtrade, soil association approved coke, you'd make an absolute killing

Tell you what, let's drop the word 'real' instead and then try again. Addiction is an umbrella term and *needs* to be broadly termed, not limited to chemical intercourse.

+1

You can be addicted to an activity alone.

Although you could add the word "biological" to clarify.

binners for PM.

IME transitioning from step 2 to step 3 took a mild detour through

2.5 having a bit 'too much'

C'est la vie, older and wiser now.

If you could find a ready supply off ethically sourced, Fairtrade, soil association approved coke, [s]you'd make an absolute killing[/s] I'd be right in there

FTFY 🙂

1. Start experimenting with drugs
2. have a right old laugh, on account of them being bloody great fun!
3. Grow out of it
4. Get on with life

Well put. I probably stayed in stage two for about 22 years. Now happily in stages 3&4 although happy to dip back in to stage 2 should the occasion present itself.

the real meaning of addiction is that you get physical withdrawal symptoms when you stop

Lots of things are addictive from drugs to bikes to post shitting on a forum

take it away form a user and you have an issue.
the range of issues will vary between person and also what they are addicted to , porn heroin, cocaine, gambling etc

I suppose part of my issue is seeing folk claiming addiction to weed as an excuse for being a horrible scally in court

IME transitioning from step 2 to step 3 took a mild detour through

2.5 having a bit 'too much'

Is that the step where you go out for about an hour on Friday night then a bunch of you just head back to the house and proceed to get off your tits for 3-4 days straight?