drug use in britain

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i read recently (again) that the British are the biggest users of recreational drugs in the world (i don't know how they quantify such things). do you believe this to be true? recently i've been under the impression that recreational drug use is higher in Australia.

also, is use higher in scotland than england, or is that a convenient media creation (Trainspotting blah blah etc), but what of, um, is it Peanut Pete?

changing drug use in Britain. when was the last time you saw any speed? this seems to be very unfavoured now. is this because of how Es have changed (ie cheaper and more like speed than in the past)?

― gareth, Saturday, 1 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i know vancouver has the highest per capita drug use in canada

― anthony, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

once worked for a couple of drug agencies in Northern England and Scotland in the mid-90s and never had any difficulty believing reports suggesting the British are the biggest users. Peanut Pete, the inspired creation of Manchester’s Life Line, was highly controversial amidst other drug agencies and some tried to have them taken to court.

The general perception is/was that Britain has no ‘culture of moderation’ in drink or drug use. Its strange approach to alcohol seems rather symptomatic–weird licensing laws that encourage binge drinking before closing time, kids not allowed in pubs giving booze ‘adult rite of passage’ pseudo-glamour’ etc.

The late-80s, early 90s saw a massive increase in illicit drug use right across young Britain. Cannabis and Ecstasy use soared, inevitably a percentage will go on to Cocaine and Heroin. Heroin use in Rotterdam and Amsterdam is far more visible than in Glasgow, but the latter has far more related fatalities. Yet when I worked there getting GPs to prescribe Methadone was an uphill struggle.

Incidentally two weeks, tragically, a young woman here in the Netherlands collapsed and died in a nightclub having taken Ecstasy. Her colleagues subsequently lost their jobs. They were all off-duty Policewomen.

― stevo, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ironically, though perhaps unsurprisingly, the quality of drugs here is the poorest anywhere.

― dave q, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I got offered drugs whilst on holiday with my parents in Vancouver, walking along the road with them, which I thought would be fairly unlikely elsewhere. late walked along the main drug street with my brother - pimps, whores, dealers everywhere. Never been so scared, to be honest - this is just off one of the main tourist areas, right in central Vancouver as well, which surprised me quite a bit.

― Bill, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

2001 Annual report on the state of the drugs problem in the European Union online contains some interesting stats.

"In 1999, over seven tonnes of heroin were seized in the EU, of which one third was accountable to the United Kingdom."

― stevo, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"when was the last time you saw any speed?"

umm, about two weeks ago. it's the only drug i take regularly, now; but yeah, you don't see it around very much, and i can't get hold of it in london at all. which is pretty annoying.

the other drug i haven't seen around much recently is acid. it seems that everyone just takes pills these days...

― toby, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I just KNEW Dave Q was going to say that!

Haven't seen speed in London for years - E and Coke have killed the market, I think. Acid = unprofitable for the dealer when compared with E etc., esp. when you consider that you'll prob. be in more trouble w/the filth for having blotters in yr pocket than you will for a wrap of charlie. When I used to gobble microdots for a living (a loooong time ago)I was once told that they were manufactured by the IRA!

― Andrew L, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The word-of-mouth impression I get - which may be quite wrong, streetwise I am not - is that speed is alive and well in the provinces.

― Tom, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Paging Carmody! Carmody to thread!

― mark s, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Is this an inference that I don't like the term "provinces" (I have no problem with it) or that I take speed (which I don't, in fact I have barely heard of it)?

― innocent middle-class boy, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Andrew, why would you get in more trouble for acid than for cocaine?

― Kris, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i agree that e has killed the speed market. but it is interesting that in the early 90s speed and e were complimentary and would be done together (on the rave scene at least). whereas now, es are done without speed. i believe this is partly because es are not as heavy now, and can be quite speedy. also, the collapse of the rave scene had a strong effect. jungle was antipathetic to chemicals (dope oriented), while house had oriented itself as classier than rave, and speed was seen as scummy. perhaps decline also related to rise of alcohol in club culture?

― gareth, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Proof Britain sucks - WHERE'S THE CRYSTAL METH? The ultimate drug, God's own medicine, etc. Every other chemical is Sunny Delight in comparison! For a nation of drug-users you'd think something would be done about introducing this magical substance!

― dave q, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Kris - it's our old mate the British class system. The Met Police recently said that basically weekend coke use was alright and harmed nobody because the people who took it nowadays were all middle-class professionals (including a goodly number of police one would think). Whereas acid is still a bit scary and unpredictable and crustie-ish and odd as a drug, and more unusual cause much fewer people take it.

― Tom, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I thought speed was fairly easy to get ahold of. I have located it in the provinces and the city. I don't like speed. That back of the throat yuk feeling puts me right off.

― alix, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two years pass...

Okay, storytime.

Waiting for the bus from my local Tube station back to my street. My brother just flew into town (this was yesterday, btw), and I'd been dragging him all over London just to keep him up to kick jetlag. We're sitting there waiting for a bus that's about three or four minutes out. Lots of people waiting, too.

These three kids, about fifteen or so, come up to me and start asking me where I live. I give them a general answer, but then they ask if I "puff up". No, I don't. Well, can I go get a package for them from this guy named Michael? No. One of the guys starts getting really in my face and verbally abusive, but I just let him do his schtick and ignore him. Finally the bus comes, we promptly get on-board, see that they aren't, and I call the local police.

Coercion of a random person on the street to complete a drug deal? Especially one who doesn't even do drugs casually? How fucking stupid can you get?

I know that just being all passive and waiting for the bus was probably the right choice, but of course in retrospect I wish that I had either gotten more threatening or sarcastic with them. But who knows - I certainly didn't want to risk getting stabbed or something. What's even more surprising in retrospect, though, is that with all those people standing around nearby, no one did anything or said anything to the kids - even after the one started getting abusive and shit.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Sunday, 28 March 2004 18:14 (twenty-one years ago)

It's the whole "Stabbing or something" paranoia. (not unfounded, obv).

Basically you did the best thing. Sarcasm is a lovely flower, but not worth dying for...

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 29 March 2004 09:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Sarcasm is a lovely flower, but not worth dying for..

I have adopted this as my motto.

― smee (smee), Monday, 29 March 2004 09:31 (twenty-one years ago)

The other thing to do at a crowded bus stop is to involve/do something to attract attention from the people standing around waiting - I'm sure the kids who approached you were fairly sotto voce, and nothing works on teenagers quite like embarrassment: "HEY! Anyone here have time to pick up a packet of DRUGS for these CHILDREN?"

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 29 March 2004 09:40 (twenty-one years ago)

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