White lines

Nobody should come to harm through the supply of drugs. But as it stands, what option do we have?

Well, there’s one obvious option that you’re refusing to recognise.

As I said in my previous post, we all make choices.  “Yeah, but it’s fantastic, so bollocks to anyone else” is the one that you made.  Remorselessly, even today with all the benefits of hindsight.  Which, y’know, is fine.  My expensive trainers or designer tee-shirt* were probably made by child labour or worse.  Back when I was a student I bought car stereos worth three figures for like £30 from a bloke in a pub, I was under no delusions as to where such a thing might have been sourced.  But don’t dress it up as something it isn’t, keep it honest.  Wasn’t it you who said earlier something about the situation we have vs the situation we want?

In an ideal world recreational drugs would be created by happy workers paid a sensible salary, under strictly controlled quality conditions so you know what you’re buying, and taxed to **** and back.  But that isn’t the case now, it wasn’t the case then, you know this now and you probably knew it back then too.  You figured, it’s a price worth paying.  (Where have we heard that recently?)

(* – I don’t wear designer anything.)

Blimey! It’s certainly reassuring to know that so many of you were making such ethical consumer choices on nights out when they were 20 years old.

Maybe there is hope for humanity after all?

I’m obviously the exception in being a heartless bastard, complicit in murder at such a tender age

When I was younger and dabbled in this kind of thing, coke was always seen as the meatheads drug of choice. For those people with no imagination or artistic bent.
My little group of space cadets certainly wouldn’t have taken it, but did take weed, shrooms, MDMA, LSD and, later, ket. I did take coke while once at university and it didn’t do anything for me.

It’s interesting that it is now so widely used in society, given that it’s a pretty rubbish drug.

consumer choices on nights out when they were 20 years old.

Yes but half of this thread is about how gak is not just being consumed by pissed 20 year olds on a Friday night.

So yeah, maybe we give the 20 year olds a pass. Suits me, I was certainly partial to a night on the garys at that age, even if I didn’t really care for coke. But what about the 30- and 40- somethings?

I’ve got mates who (occasionally) still get on it at 40+. They’re big enough to know better. I can see why – if you want a bump but don’t want 6 hours worth it’s ideal. But they – and people their age who bring it to work every day – don’t really have the excuse of being young and dumb.

Still though, as mentioned elsewhere, it IS a spectrum and anyone who participates in society is open to accusations of hypocrisy on some level. I still fly to Europe most years, and middle eastern petro-states are not known for their human rights records either.

Back in the day ( before cherry pickers) , the steel erectors would not work because it was wet so…..  unsafe!

They would hoover 7 or 8 pints in the pub.

The sun would come out and they return to work and would walk the horizontal steel narrow beams and slide down the steel columns fire brigade style!

Crazy men.

What’s particularly concerning is that a lot of the young men who are doing coke are also taking steroids as well.

That doesn’t sound like a winning combination, unless you’re setting out to be really, really angry

That doesn’t sound like a winning combination, unless you’re setting out to be really, really angry

And this (as well as just generally because it’s a bad idea) is why I try super hard to not remonstrate with people in cars no matter how unpleasant their behaviour/ driving.

While Binner’s was off his head in Hacienda I was enjoying good company, racing cars (with a competition licence in events so none of you were at risk unless you wanted to be) caving, clubing, climbing, horse riding, mountaineering, skiing, wind surfing and a long list of other sports and activities – all stone cold sober.  I was an occasional drinker and I’m now tea total, very occasionally smoked a joint or picked mushrooms but didn’t find it “absolutely brilliant fun” in fact it was deadly boring and left me feeling grot after. Sex with C or M or…  was absolutely brilliant fun with absolutely no hangover.

In most of those activities drugs were used and available, I just didn’t, not even playing in a band where there was more than a little social pressure to join in, and to be honest I was relieved when it ground to a halt.

The social aspect is the point of this post. It’s a social thing as much as a kicks thing. Being part of the scene is the motivation behind a lot of the drug taking, smoking and boozing. People can’t say no, that would require mental strength and a certain disregard for what others might think. The second part of the social thing is the Dutch courage part of drink and drugs, people know they can do things drugged up they otherwise wouldn’t have the courage or determination to get through. And that’s where we get to coked up fascists and tree surgeons.

We don’t all like the same things, Binner’s idea of absolutely brilliant fun leaves me indifferent, however skinning up a mountain (pun intended), sitting on the top munching a peanut butter sandwich in good company then skiing back down is”absolutely brilliant fun”, to me. One requires handing over a bank note for substances, the other a bit more effort to earn many more bank notes, accumulate the gear and experience then making the effort to get to the right place at the right time.

Cheap kicks followed by a hangover, no ta.

No drugs visible beyond the occasional pint visible on the PGCE course I did OP. I know a lot of teachers and only one smokes an occasional joint.

Apparently the Scaf lads are the ones to talk to on site…..

For those lucky enough to lead a sheltered existence and have no idea how easy it is to obtain whatever you want, whenever you want, a random profile started following me on Instagram last year. They then messaged me a link to this page with a menu of what they’re selling and a number to text for your order. This is standard nowadays.

Yeah. I’m with binners on this one.

I’ve been in the construction industry for 30 years and can’t recall anyone with the white stuff on site. Plenty hungover, even a couple still drinking during work hours. Occasionally a bit of Mary Jane maybe. There are supposed to be drug tests but only ever seen a couple, and I’ve never been tested.

Cocaine – the drug of our era right now.

Most of the societal ills from producing and selling cocaine are of course ill effects of the prohibition not intrinsic in the chemical however the ill effects of consumption are not.  It causes heart attacks and strokes and turns people into belligerent arseholes.  feels great tho!

I see no real harm reduction case for liberalising access to cocaine indeed I think the harms of consumption are too great.  Its not addictive in any true sense but you can mess yourself up on it badly if you try hard enough.

Cocaine was responsible for the boom and bust and excess of the 90s and is fueling violence in our town centres now.  It mixes badly with alcohol

Having worked in sales adjacent roles for the best part of 20 years, I’d like to hear more about what people think is a lot of drug use…

(Not for me BTW, I’m far too boring to get involved)

One of the many side effects is becoming impotent but you will probably still get stiffees on your arteries though. Better chance of maybe a stroke or heart attack

A long time ago I was told by a senior colleague that coke knackers your coronaries in a way that neither CABG or PCI can fix. And severe post-MI congestive heart failure is really not something you want.

What’s particularly concerning is that a lot of the young men who are doing coke are also taking steroids as well.

And apart from infertility and growing breasts, the ‘roids also lead to cardiac hypertrophy, which also impairs cardiac blood supply. I’d suggests coke plus ‘roids is a good recipe for early cardiac death?

@tomhoward – indeed. In certain jobs it’s absolutely rife. Mrs Binners used to work in the head office of a national restaurant chain. Their employment contracts said that they could random drug test staff at any point.

However, they never actually did because they knew full well that if they did, they’d have no chefs left

Restaurants are notorious for it.  got to get thru those long days somehow.

Was going to say scaffolders but @binners beat me to it. Notorious. I stayed away from them when we had our roof done, they were all a bunch of lunatics.

Not something I was aware of, not habitually hanging out with scaffolders, but it does rather explain the speed the scaffolding was put up then taken down for my new double glazing to be fitted earlier this year!
It was in regular use by quite a few of the workshop lads at my last place, doing body and paint repair refurbishing ex-fleet vehicles. One lad on the logistics team got stopped and summoned on a DUI, and he lost his job instantly.

Honestly never been the slightest bit interested in anything other than alcohol, and even then in moderate amounts, I don’t like the feeling of not being in control over my body; I don’t mind being slightly light-headed, but once past that I really don’t enjoy it at all.

A work colleague gave me a small chunk of dope to chew on, because I wouldn’t smoke it in a roll-up, (cigarettes being another no-no), I was round his place in Bath one afternoon prior to a gig in the city in the evening, and I was still completely off my tits waiting for the train home late that night, about eight hours later! Saw some amazing stuff, but never did anything like that again.

And before anyone say anything about me being narrow-minded, sanctimonious, or whatever, I don’t give a rat’s ass about what anyone else gets up to, I just don’t enjoy the way it makes me feel, it’s just not a pleasant sensation.