When did coke become socially acceptable?

slither12

It's nearly everywhere you go in pubs/nightclubs but I know from talking to a guy in his late 50s, that coke and other drugs had a stigma when he was growing up. I'm wondering when coke became an acceptable drug among a lot of people but the likes of heroin and meth are still stigmatized even among recreational drug users.

freshpopcorn

I think it's more socially acceptable in certain social circles but not in others I'm 30 and know loads of people who've never been near the stuff.

CalamariFritti

I don't know, but I noticed too that it seems more acceptable, people talk way more casually about it. I was never really into it myself and now that I'm 50ish myself it just seems way too much hassle, too stressful. But when I was younger it was defo more hush hush, you wouldn't casually talk about it never mind admit to it.

CGI_Livia_Soprano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179181#Comment_120179181

I think you would be surprised about those people.

CPTM

I'm hearing about its rise in Dublin but no one in my wider circle has admitted to taking it. MDMA seems to be a lot more socially acceptable though. It seems like a lot more people are talking about taking that, particular during festival season. And Marijuana obviously.

evolvingtipperary101

Dunphy said in the 90s that you can't get good coke in Dublin. He had to apologize. I think it depends on the circles you're running in. It used to be the drug of the money'd classes. I don't think that's true anymore. Maybe it was never true. I know plenty of people who have used it or use it. Teachers, gardai, civil servants, bar staff, farmers, lecturers, hoteliers, servers, kitchen staff, cleaning staff, taxi drivers, doctors, you name it. Some just use it on the weekends. Some use to get through a job they hate.

I don't think it's just coke. I think drugs are becoming more and more acceptable. I suppose a lot of people feel educated in drugs now, whether through podcasts or their research, and feel more confident in exploration and use. And more defiant on their usage if challenged.

Of course, it's all too quick to ignore where the money is going and who is being taking advantage of and the places that are being destroyed because of the illegal drug trade. Let's face it, coke comes from dark and dangerous places. The drug lords, like that scumbag Escobar.

Doc07

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179263#Comment_120179263

Coke is big business because it is used by a lot of people and that means plenty of addicts who many would consider to live in ‘poor’ areas. The old thing about Coke being for the rich is a combination of repeated lazy journalism and naivety. The communities ravaged by heroin are the same as those full of Coke now and the exact same demographic dominates. Very little to do with education and podcasts.

You are dead right on your last point. There is no fair trade Coke. Buying into Coke business is feeding the Kinihans/Hutch in Ireland and more globally the South American cartels who literally cut peoples heads off. I know plenty of rotten industry practices abound in all lucrative trades, mobile phones etc but Apple/Google don’t generally cut their staffs’ heads off.

zell12

..

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179301#Comment_120179301

I wasn't trying to tie together any of those points in the first paragraph to make any point on addicts or "poor areas." I wouldn't dream of that.

Doc07

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179323#Comment_120179323

Sorry didn’t mean to imply you were. I’m also not trying to have a go at addicts, just making point, probably clumsily, that where Coke is rife is where heroin was/is still rife.

mickdw

When the courts started to let coke dealers away with little to no punishment.

Loafing Oaf

I think way back when this ad came out

Have I got the wrong end of the stick here...

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179326#Comment_120179326

Fair enough.

I do think coke is rife in every class of society though. Not just certain areas. Some people have more access to care and a better chance in a court or a better chance of never making it to court because of who they are or who they know. And that's just a fact.

Donald Trump

Neither are great but it is better than Pepsi

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179235#Comment_120179235

MDMA seems to be a lot more socially acceptable though.

He did win 8 All-Irelands

hynesie08

It definitely became a lot less "wink wink nudge nudge" after the rise and fall of head shops. People actively asking who had the bag, making no secret that they were going to the bathroom to do a line, it seemed like everyone was in on it, the club charged in, the lad in the jacks taking hush money, and every second lad was a "dealer" who was up to his bollix in debt trying to sell faster than he could sniff.

Really happy I've never touched the stuff.

cj maxx

It’s not even hidden now. We were at Santa in the Dublin mountains a few years ago. It being really cold the 2 kids were starving so we stopped for food and I had a pint during a pool / utd game. 3 or 4 lads on pints openly passing bags to each other. New York was like that in the late 90’s. Except here it really is cut to fcuk down with sodium bicarbonate. That’s why noses get so runny.

Billy Mays

It's rampant. People aren't even discreet doing it these days. Have walked into the toilets in several pubs to see lads doing it openly, not even bothering going into the cubicle.

Quality of it is mostly shite unless buying it on the dark web or telegram

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179263#Comment_120179263

Why did all those people confide in you? Gardai and teachers should be more careful about discussing their drug habits. Someone might report them.

Ubbquittious

Coke usage always goes up in times of economic prosperity

Etc

I was sitting opposite two couples openly doing it on the last DART last Saturday, granted they were pissed but made no effort to hide it.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179668#Comment_120179668

@evolvingtipperary101 is a priest and hears it all in confession

pgj2015

Stupid expensive drug to go near in my opinion, I thank Danniella Westbrook for the fact I never want anything to do with it. Something seedy and grim about hoovering up god knows what up your nose.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179734#Comment_120179734

You think that's bad. I was on the DART there last week and there were two kids about 7 lashing it into them in front of their mother. She didn't care. They had it in little yellow bags and had special sticky implements to get the coke out of the bags and shovel it into their mouths to rub on their gums.

I managed to grab the evidence from one kid and took a quick photo of it. The mother went mental and started shouting at me. I'd say she was on it herself. I had to defend myself against the coked up maniac with a few swift kicks. See photo below

Jequ0n

Why would anyone care what other people chose to consume..

Strumms

Gardai are not interested in going after users, just the dealers, importers.

I just did a google news search and can find no stories in the 12 or so pages I scanned, of any offence before the courts.

the odd person arrested and charged with being in possession for ‘sale and supply’

Users don’t factor into the minds of law enforcement…so fûck all deterrent to anyone procuring it.

Count Dracula

I always find it very gimmicky and ingesting it is a fairly awful experience. The state of my nose the following morning.

It is really crap as well. There are much better drugs out there that you can have a much better time taking.

If you are lucky enough to get some nice stuff you will make an absolute show of yourself and feel shít for a week after.

I don't think it is accepted at all, don't tell people if you are taking it, they will only judge you for something that you clearly aren't.

Pauliedragon

Several reasons OP. It's a status thing in some cases (look at me I'm like a celebrity). You can have a big night on it and feel relatively normal the next day as opposed to a feed of drink which can make u want to die. It can be a cheaper night out as in going halves on a bag with a friend is way cheaper than hoofing a load of pints into ya. When I used to take it every now and then it turned me off alcohol so my night was way cheaper and finally it makes u feel really really good way more than booze does.

cj maxx

The greedist drug I ever took or shared. Meeting up with the boys in ny we'd have $50 bag each or maybe 2. But you and everyone else kept an emergency stash for themselves. Me included. The country is swamped with it . Not just the cities but every town and pub. Been there done that and escaped the other side. As for clowns who make coke joints ??? Not worth a fcuk ! I've seen lads smoke it and act high ( usually teenagers and early 20's ) . You might as well throw in a fire. You have to change the chemical compound to a base to smoke it. Hence the name free basing . I bought a great book years a day years ago on the subject ,I think by Dominic Streatfield , Know your enemy and all that .

sporina

wow - none of my mates smoke let alone take drugs.. tis is all news to me

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179668#Comment_120179668

Confide?!?! 🤣

You should try socializing and keep the oul eyes open.

Larbre34

Heard a similar discussion on the radio today about the pervasive smell of hash around Dublin City Centre.

There was a time that folk who liked a spliff would smoke at home, maybe a quiet spot outdoors, but not openly walking down the street or outside pubs.

The discussion was along the lines of 'well, people are anticipating full legalisation and so care less about where they smoke it'.

I don't think that's what it is at all really, I just think its the same as the cocaine, in that folk know they can do exactly what they like, where they like and when they like and that there will be no consequences.

And of course the thinking about hash is bogus anyway, because in so many of the territories that personal use is permitted, like California, Colorado and the Netherlands, you cannot smoke on the street or wherever you like and it is tightly policed.

As usual in Irish cities and towns, its anti-social behaviour rulez OK and nobody gives a shite.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180088#Comment_120180088

That wouldn't tell me that they are doing it only at the weekends, or to cope with work pressures. Was it a doctor or a civil servant who told you that?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179734#Comment_120179734

ah no I’d say that was just their sinus medication

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180253#Comment_120180253

It would if they were caught doing it at work and the whole spiel came out. Or if they got too drunk and made one too many visits to the disabled toilets and left something behind that the next person found... or if their loneliness lead them to sharing their bag with a few good looking girls who loved to talk.

What do you care what circumstance applies to what profession?

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180289#Comment_120180289

You gave a list of 12 occupations including Garda who you know use cocaine. Some only at the weekends, some to cope with jobs they hate. How would you even know the occupations of people out and about socialising?

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180366#Comment_120180366

🤣🤣

Seems it became socially ‘acceptable’ during the last big boom here in the late 90s early 00s. It wasn’t just here either.

yourdeadwright

Do you ever hear anyone dying from doing a bag ? Like back in the day you'd hear it about XTC

never bothered with it myself ,but younger lads id play ball with say they only do it on long day session just to stay sober, seems a bit nuts if u ask me

Thelonious Monk

I've done coke with all walks of life and high up professions anyway over the years. It may be socially acceptable once you know the other person or people are cool with it but most people try to be discreet about it. Here in London it seems to be just the norm, dealers here will whatsapp you these enormous menus selling all sorts of stuff from weak coke to strong coke to viagra to mephedrone etc. etc.

People love drugs and they will always be prevalent and that is never going to change unless we become some kind of authoritarian states like in the middle east and asia, and hopefully that never happens.

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120182897#Comment_120182897

literally millions of people were taking pills every weekend in the 90s in the UK and Ireland and I can only think of that poor Leah Betts one who died. It's a very safe drug, for comparison people probably die daily from alcohol in the UK and Ireland for all kinds of different reasons, accidents, illness etc.

screamer

It is rife, even in backwater little places, you’d easier get coke than a panadol. The youngsters are on it, they don’t drink they do coke instead and all of the ugliness that goes along with it, aggressiveness and fighting, jaws and noses swinging out of them. I’d say it’s been easy 5 years since it became widespread and I won’t say acceptable but not frowned upon. If we think drink is an issue for society I can only imagine the problems this coke addiction will bring.

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120182955#Comment_120182955

Are you saying cocaine is a safe drug ?

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120182955#Comment_120182955

I think that saying a drug is very safe because nobody dies from taking it is stretching things.

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120182983#Comment_120182983

I didn't say that no, but I don't think it's that dangerous relatively speaking if you're talking about drugs, you'd be far more likely to hurt yourself with booze

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120182984#Comment_120182984

I was saying millions of people can take ecstasy over a weekend and have an amazing time and come off none the worse for it, so I'd consider it very safe yes. I'm unaware of ecstasy having had any ill effects on anyone I know and pretty much everyone I know and grew up with would have taken pills. I can't say the same thing about booze, that's definitely not a very safe drug.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120182951#Comment_120182951

Who’d want to buy weak coke?

Regarding the OP, if you have to go to the jacks to do it then it’s not socially acceptable. Anyone you’ve seen doing it publicly knows full well they are taking the píss.

Royale with Cheese

I saw a bunch of 18-20 year old kids openly sniffing it off a key at Dalkey station over the summer, in full view of everyone waiting on the other side of the platform. I barely had the money to buy a few pints at that age.

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120182997#Comment_120182997

lots of people, weak coke can just keep you going for a night without the price tag. Many dealers sell different tiers, cheaper stuff would be diluted with mix and the dearer stuff more pure and expensive. that's pretty much the norm.

Mad_maxx

I’ve never taken an illegal drug in my life, not even when a bunch of guys I toured NZ with in 1998 we’re doing pot on a regular basis , I drank plenty but never experimented with drugs

I definitely notice usage in the small town I live in , people with clear signs they were hard on the sniff the night before, perhaps it was same circa 2007 ( pre crash) but I didn’t notice?

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120183142#Comment_120183142

"doing pot", spot the narc