How London's men got caught in a blizzard of cocaine

"It's an early weekday morning in east London. The city around him is slowly waking up, but Danny* has yet to go to sleep. When he finished his shift working front of house at a popular Borough Market restaurant last night, he bought a gram of cocaine and finished it in his flat, alone. He opens his banking app, the balance reads zero. Next, he flicks through his credit cards; the debt his lifestyle has amassed totals 10,000."

"I numbed myself to the point where I didn't feel anything. Maybe you've spotted the dilated pupils and clenched jaws that dart all over the Square Mile. Perhaps it's the buzz you can sense in the pub loud, animated conversations, sniffs coming from the toilet cubicles. Whether you've noticed it or not, it's hardly a secret that Londoners love cocaine."

"Back to humans, and the media has historically painted the UK's typical coke user as one of three: the supermodel or pop star with a partying problem, the football-loving Tommy Robinson sympathiser foaming at the mouth for a brawl, or the woke coke snorting, high-flying businessman who lives by the motto live fast, die young (series four of Industry is currently airing, in unrelated news)."

Danny, a 31-year-old east London worker, reached rock bottom after frequent cocaine use, zero bank balance, and £10,000 of credit card debt. He consumed a gram after shifts and used the drug around five times a week for months. Observable signs include dilated pupils, clenched jaws, loud animated pub conversations and sniffs in toilet cubicles. By 2026, cocaine use crosses traditional class boundaries and spreads across communities. Increased accessibility via social media and WhatsApp and higher production and yield have reduced prices and broadened availability, encouraging more diverse and frequent consumption.

Read at www.standard.co.uk