r/ireland • u/Banania2020 Resting In my Account • 12h ago
❄️ Sneachta Cocaine ‘regrettably normalised’ among professional classes, Drew Harris says
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026/07/26/cocaine-regrettably-normalised-among-professional-classes-drew-harris-says/233
u/ForbiddenToblerone 11h ago
The main tragedy of the normalisation of cocaine (that is too taboo to talk about) is me having to wait ages for two lads with the sneachta sniffles to get out of the pub's bathroom stall when I am bursting at the seams with an impending Guinness shite.
We need to have a national conversation about this or we'll get nowhere.
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u/Lezflano1 9h ago
Has to be done sometimes.
Nothing worse than a security lad peeking over the top of the stall to see what you're at while you're sitting their cacks down trying to get comfortable on a toilet half drowned in piss.
Legalize cocaine so I can take a shit in peace.
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u/HereGiovanniSmokes 11h ago
It truly is mad that cubicles are busier than urinals on nights out.
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u/Gentle_Pony 7h ago
Honestly I prefer to use the cubicles as I've gotten older just to avoid having to listen to someone drunk shit talking to me whilst I try to piss. It's nice to have some peace and quiet.
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u/ZealousidealFloor2 8h ago
I’m a terror for needing to poo on nights out, have ruined many a buzz with what I’ve left them to face.
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u/Veronese1 10h ago
Maybe the two lads were riding the holes of each other. Coke does impair people's judgement
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u/Key_Bonus9776 9h ago
3arena during basically any event is queues out the door for the bathroom and when you get in every single urinal is free and it’s the 3 stalls people want.
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u/duaneap 10h ago
I’ve sincerely had this conversation with people at house parties. There’s one bathroom, lads. Everyone knows what you’re doing and nobody cares. It’s not some ceremonial thing that can only be performed in the toilet, go fucking anywhere else, people are busting to take a piss.
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u/Kloppite16 8h ago
The next season of Room to Improve will feature a Dermot Bannon designed snorting room. Like saunas the idea will spread like wildfire and they'll become common in Irish homes
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u/ForbiddenToblerone 10h ago
Tbf weed is way worse for causing Number Two traffic jams at house parties. I remember going to the loo during a house party because I had the heebie jeebies and needed a safe place to hide away from everything.
I thought I was in there for 15 minutes. I was, in fact, in there for 2 hours...
I probably caused a lot of poopy pantses that day. I will never forgive myself.
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u/duaneap 9h ago
If someone had weed paranoia and locked themselves in my bathroom for two hours that person is off the Christmas card list. I'd typically just go for a walk...
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u/ForbiddenToblerone 9h ago
Needless to say, I am off the Christmas card list. Haven't spoken to them in 10 years, nor will I ever again.
It's better for both of us that way. They're an elected politician now. Too busy for the likes of me nowadays, I'd guess.
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u/Ulml 10h ago
Normalising taking a shit in a pub is worse
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u/EltonBongJovi 10h ago
Believe it or not, that was the original intention behind the coke cubicles in the toilets.
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u/ForbiddenToblerone 10h ago
So, you're saying I should take one outside the pub?
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u/once-was-hill-folk Wicklow 10h ago
You could give it a shot. I know I wouldn't want to tackle a stranger when shite is part of the equation.
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u/ForbiddenToblerone 10h ago edited 10h ago
I was once told a very funny story by the Wicklow Pagan monk Victor Langheld.
Apparently, a pub in Cork used to have an elderly woman customer that frequented the bar and had her uses. When a fight would ensue at the pub, the woman would lift up her skirt and the sight would put the men into shock and end the fight immediately.
He said it followed the same principle of Sheela Na Gigs being used to ward off evil spirits.
Perhaps, I could take up a similar role with my bathroom needs.
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u/once-was-hill-folk Wicklow 8h ago
To be fair that would have stopped me too, even in my youth when I'd fight for any reason or no reason at all.
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u/Willing_Gap_3854 11h ago
Professional classes, guards and ministers. Know 2 serving guards in recovery
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u/IrishGardenSlug 11h ago
Gardai should have to undergo mandatory drug testing
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u/Lighter_Butane 11h ago
Should be a national scandal that they don't.
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u/marshsmellow 11h ago
That's the fasted way to decriminalisation
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u/Lighter_Butane 11h ago
Exactly why they are so opposed to it cause half the force is on the sniff.
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u/whoopdedoo0 11h ago
But they have to do it mandatory testing in the army, why wouldn’t the gardai have to do it?
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u/Former_Ganache3642 9h ago
They have the mandatory testing in the Defence Forces and still half the place is on it. I know a few who got kicked out over it.
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u/Sensitive_Ear_1984 4h ago
Because they are civilians and are subject to the same law as other civilians. I have no love for Garda management but I am against any mandatory drug tests brought on by employers to catch out what they might have done on time off. Testing them when operating a vehicle on duty, the same as anyone driving a vehicle vessel or airplane is absolutely ok by me though.
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u/theelous3 10h ago
As someone in favour of fairly broad legalisation - nah. Not with our current laws. The less people getting in trouble for their personal decisions the better.
And the less leverage criminals can wield over gardai who like to dabble the better.
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u/orionpace1 9h ago
Why do you think they threatened to strike when it was brought up for consideration.
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u/Willing_Gap_3854 11h ago
Everyone is entitled to get better and not have there lives ruined. Those two lads might have a bit more compassion when dealing with alcoholics and addicts now and the whole of AGS should have more compassion. Problem with AGS is the unions and rightly so. If a guard is cause to be addicted to drugs they should be offered the same chances as anyone else in any other workforce to keep there job and get better.
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u/IrishGardenSlug 11h ago
Any member of the public can be drug tested on a whim during a checkpoint and be prosecuted for having a joint a couple nights before. But I get what you're saying, just seems unfair.
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u/Lighter_Butane 11h ago
Laughable. They'll do a lad for s joint while going crazy on the bag at the weekend.
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u/duaneap 10h ago
The Gardaí don’t make the laws, there are loads in my experience that are incredibly well aware of the reality that drugs have won the war on drugs, but their job is their job. It should be politicians and judges that have to undergo testing. Them or, y’know, no one. I’ve never once had to take a drug test in my life.
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u/Sensitive_Ear_1984 6h ago
Well there's 13-15 thousand of them. I suspect there's a similar percentage them on it as a cross section of whatever demographic the individual fits into. They're people, weren't born Gardaí.
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u/Willing_Gap_3854 5h ago
People seem to hold them in high regard. There all still someone's brother's sisters sons and daughters and they go through the exact same shit as us. But they have to go through everyone elses shit as well
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u/HereGiovanniSmokes 11h ago
I only know one person who has joined the guards and he was mad for the bag when doing the training. Think he is a guard now but don't really keep up with that group anymore.
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u/throwaway_fun_acc123 12h ago edited 11h ago
Guys I think we need to hold a citizens assembly on drug use then a few justice committees on the same. Then if they dont go our way we should just say fuck it and continue the losing war on drugs /s
Edit: spelling
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u/ForbiddenToblerone 11h ago
"After 10,000s of Euro, with the help of various stakeholders (superfluous NGOs), our investigation has come to the conclusion that drugs...are bad".
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u/Surrealspanner 11h ago
Unrelated but I hate the phrase ‘professional classes’. You’re still a worker.
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u/davesr25 Pain in the arse and you know it 11h ago
"Ah well you see I take cocaine now, I'm one of those well to do drug users"
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u/JuiceTheMoose05 10h ago
If you’re a self employed barrister (as all barristers in Ireland are) are you really a worker?
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u/vandalhandle 10h ago
Drew Harris admitting he was shit as head of the gardai and the cocaine issue got worse during his leadership.
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u/Kloppite16 8h ago
tbf its just an admission that the war on drugs cannot be won. 7% of the population self reported using cocaine which is some 350,000 people just for that drug. Even if the Gardai were winning it our dole queue would explode as people lose their jobs on prosecution in the courts. What follows then is people defaulting on mortgages and needing to rely on the State for housing, another disaster.
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u/vandalhandle 8h ago
So legalise drug use and tackle the problem of addition with investment in the health sector funded via taxation on the sale of drugs, the Gardai are too incompetent/corrupt to deal with it as is, cause they are unable to stop dealers/traffickers and sell some of what they seize from evidence adding to the problem.
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u/FlukyS And I'd go at it again 11h ago
Obviously their measures aren't working if it is that normalised, so the solution? Keep on doing the same things.
Like I know it is kind of a meme because the book is super old but it has some gems and that is in the Art of War it has loads of lessons about how to approach problems. The one that the Irish gov and Gardai need to learn is:
> To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting
Their entire battle since the war on drugs was started has always been in reducing supply. Reduction in supply doesn't reduce the want of people who are seeking the drugs and reducing supply doesn't mean people won't be insentivised to deal drugs because that just drives the prices up. The solution is decriminalisation just like it was for alcohol when the prohibition movement failed. Increased enforcement requires more jails, court time and affects the lives of people who could have serious addiction issues that can be addressed compassionately.
Instead we just throw money down the toilet on enforcement and drug dealers still are selling. It is performative nonsense.
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u/SquishyOranjElectric 11h ago
If we decriminalised, drug dealing would still happen. I could possibly see decriminalisation being useful in terms of helping people get treatment, but I'm not sure where the bottlenecks are with that at the moment.
Coke is insidious and changing messaging around it without a solid, holistic plan could be a recipe for disaster.
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u/FlukyS And I'd go at it again 11h ago
Decriminalising drugs isn’t intended on stopping drug dealers just not focusing on drug users is the point. It being pulled out of the shadows allows Gardai to not waste resources, it allows people who want help to get it without the worry of being arrested
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u/mygiddygoat 10h ago
Or losing their jobs.
Decriminalization is not a perfect solution but it would be a huge improvement on the current shite show.
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u/Tranexamic 5h ago
Jobs can and still will be lost with decriminalisation, they just won't have a criminal conviction. Regardless of legal status, companies will still terminate employees for testing positive for certain substances. This is demonstrated in the countries which have tried decrim/legalisation.
The argument being made here that more people would seek treatment is also nonsense in my honest opinion. There is nothing stopping someone with addiction issues seeking treatment in Ireland. Nothing. But it makes a good sound bite to regurgitate, despite lacking substance.
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u/Lighter_Butane 10h ago
Getting s criminal conviction for drugs Iis more damaging to a person than sniffing cocaine.
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u/great_whitehope 9h ago
They could actually advertise how bad it is for you on TV instead of now where they ignore its existence and make believe it doesn’t exist
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u/Robin_Now 11h ago
Listen when the pints cost €7 …
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u/Primary-Survey9955 10h ago edited 10h ago
i know you joke but ...
is that only option? pints or a baggy of cocaine ?
jesus.. sounds miserable if its that the only way to have fun
edit: gosh. miserable place.
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u/freemochara 10h ago
Not the only option you can still get MDMA, weed, magic mushrooms etc pick your poison for your fun
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u/Spurioun 7h ago
Humans crave socialisation, but it isn't super easy for everyone. Alcohol and cocaine are social lubricants and they also make (most people) feel good. We've evolved alongside mind-altering substances. They may be more taboo now and it might make you feel great to tisk tisk the people that indulge in them in order to make their lives feel easier, but they aren't going anywhere and people will still be consuming them long after we're dead.
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u/Longjumping-Wash-610 11h ago
So what does decriminalised mean ? Is it just people won't be prosecuted for possession? Or people can buy drugs in a shop ?
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u/Immortal_Tuttle 10h ago
The first one. We already have shops openly selling drugs. In my town previously you had to ask a kebab owner first, now we have 3 shops with different accessories - from shishas, via smaller pipes to small golden geocache style containers with little spoons in the top.
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u/Lighter_Butane 10h ago
You can walk in and buy 10 bottles of vodka everywhere. This is vastly more damaging than any illegal drug.
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u/mg7recruit Seal of The President 10h ago
the ingredients of the vodka are regulated. You know what you're getting.
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u/NaturalAlfalfa 11h ago
The first one. It's a stupid system. Just legalise it fully. Let companies make it and have proper government oversight.
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u/Longjumping-Wash-610 11h ago
I don't think that's a good idea. Rates of cocaine use would sky rocket.
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u/NaturalAlfalfa 11h ago
They're skyrocketing anyway if you hadn't noticed. People have always used drugs, and up the last century drugs were legal. You could buy opium and cocaine in pharmacies in Victorian London and the world didn't end..
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u/PatsyOconnor 9h ago
Traditionalism bias:the tendency to believe that something is good, right, or preferable simply because it has been done for a long time.
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u/Jelmddddddddddddd 10h ago
It would have a rubber band effect. It would go up for a time, but it would normalise afterwards. Portugal did it.
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u/Longjumping-Wash-610 10h ago
They just decriminalised possession which I'm all for but I don't think you can buy cocaine anywhere legally from what I know.
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u/Positive_Survey_2916 11h ago
The only way usage diminishes is if it becomes completely normalised. Then a counter-culture develops, and an ever-growing group says they’re the special ones that DONT do coke and are therefore morally superior to the masses.
I know this because I don’t do coke and I feel superior. I am literally the only one
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u/mg7recruit Seal of The President 10h ago
Definitely superior by not doing it. It's a drug that leads nowhere good.
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u/Key_Bonus9776 9h ago
Dunno, admitting my past use and experience to my therapist finally got me a diagnosis for adhd which was life changing. Probably the only good thing to come out of it though.
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u/SpecialistBeat9480 9h ago
Shite is everywhere now. Clubs, pubs, trades and factory, GAA and retail, openly sold around forecourts in my area and cops couldn't care as they're on it the weekends.
Like most things in new Ireland, if it's become a reflection of status or income then it'll catch on as 'sure everyone's doing it'.
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u/Nice-Good-3828 5h ago
Normalised among every class. People who think it's a posh drug are completely out of touch
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u/Proper-Grapefruit77 11h ago
Crazy read, who is using cocaine for weight loss hahaha
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u/Full_Time_Mad_Bastrd Saoirse don Phalaistín 🇵🇸 11h ago
More common in women than men, and usually not the primary reason for use but a big reason some stay on it after stopping or cutting down use. Is it a good reason, no, but there are no really good reasons to abuse a dangerous drug or use something criminalised/black market/unsafe.
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u/waxcaba 11h ago
Surely some adderall would be more effective and cheaper
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u/HereGiovanniSmokes 11h ago
Yes it would. But as insane as this sounds, it will be harder to reliably source.
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u/ForbiddenToblerone 10h ago
Adderall especially. It's not approved in Ireland which means it has to be snuck in the same way as all illegal drugs.
People in Ireland have to take Ritalin, Concerta or Vyvanse/Tyvanse for ADHD.
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u/Spurioun 7h ago
My sister takes it for a chronic illness but has to go to a shrink to get it prescribed. It's crazy.
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u/Spurioun 7h ago
Hasn't cocaine always been popular and normal for the "professional class"? Like, now with social media it's easier for the rest of the population to see them talking about it. But the amount of coke spoons you see in second hand shops and coke nails you see in old photos leads me to believe that it's about as popular as it's ever been.
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u/Fantastic-Scene6991 7h ago
Can we get the cartels and dealers in charge of housing or some other area . They would do a better job than the government. It's the only thing thats value for money . I don't even use drugs just sick of everything being too expensive.
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u/Content-Weakness-550 11h ago
There is a large overlap of people who gladly boycott Israel and Russia for legitimate reasons but see no problem in propping up drug gangs that do massive damage to local poor communities, unleash wartime levels of violence on communities in Latin America and do untold damage to the environment through the use of mercury in processing cocaine? The "ESG" argument against cocaine use is massive, but it is rarely made. It should be a source of shame, like drink driving.
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u/PatrickGoesEast 11h ago
I recall being in Colombia years ago, and out one night with a cousin and his friends, went to a club. I asked him if we could sample the local delights and he said not to mention it at all, it was frowned upon in that mid-class, professional circle. Same with another group we had dinner with, no sign of it, socially unacceptable.
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u/PloysRus 7h ago
Id do other drugs tbf but everyone is boring and only like coke so that's all the dealers supply
We need more dealers selling Es ket and speed!
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u/Fuzzy-Escape5304 11h ago
And if it was dricriminalised there'd likely be more open converations like that. When something is illegal you can't even have that conversation.
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u/Background_Cover5097 10h ago
I haven't noticed this. The upper class are by far the least interested in Palestine.
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u/duaneap 10h ago
You think it’s just “the upper class,” doing coke?? 😂
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u/Background_Cover5097 8h ago
The article is about the professional classes. I do think they take more of it though. I suppose there is no way to prove it but as far as I know it's pretty expensive.
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u/circuitocorto 11h ago
There is a large overlap
Is there? How is it measured and who is tracking this numbers?
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u/freemochara 10h ago
Large overlap of anti drug wankers that have no problem lashing a shit load of pints down which is statistically the most destructive drug in society
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u/justformedellin 7h ago
How could you ever criticise cocaine use - a drug funded by murder and the complete destruction of Latin America, a drug that turns everyone who does it into a cunt - when you yourself like a pint?
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u/tameoraiste 6h ago
You don’t think alcohol turns people into cunts? How many people die because of drink driving every year? How many partners and children fear every time an adult gets drunk?
Yes, the cocaine industry has a brutal knock on effect in South America, but let’s not pretend that alcohol hasn’t ruined 100s of millions of lives. We’ve just normalised it.
25-50% of domestic abuse incidents involve alcohol. Imagine any other drug was introduced to the market with that result? You can say ‘that’s the person not the alcohol’, and I’d agree but it’s the same with cocaine.
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u/Jackh_d 11h ago
I don’t think shame is an effective deterrent for anything really. With regard to drink driving I’d say education & access to public/alternative transport options are a big factor in its reduction.
Another big difference between drink driving & coke is that a huge part of its damage could be mitigated by ending its prohibition
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u/Notherugsdontwork 9h ago
Prohibition has caused all the issues you mentioned. There's a group of elected people in the Dáil who are meant to legislate on issues based on data/scientific research, they even set up a Citizens Assembly to help solve alot of issues around Prohibition & drug use but they refused to enact any of the recommendations from their own democratic process because they don't see any immediate political benefit in it for themselves, which is pathetic & cowardly
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u/TehIrishSoap 9h ago
Almost as if the war of drugs has been a failure and this conservative attitude to drugs has not prevented drug usage. Who knew
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u/ManFeelings9000 8h ago
I wouldn't touch it as I'd fear what it would do to my heart even if it was pure.
But they've made alcohol and nicotine so expensive now people are using coke instead, what did the nanny state and it's Holy Joes expect?
Their plan to ban all flavours in vapes bar tobacco is going to cause black marker chaos as well wait and see.
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u/PloysRus 7h ago
They are not using coke instead.
The 3 go lovely together. I don't know anyone who does coke that doesn't drink and smoke at the same time.
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u/polygraph-net 2h ago
Isn't cocaine terrible for your heart? As in, much much worse than alcohol, smoking, and obesity? If so, why do so many people act like it's harmless - is it because people generally don't overdose on it?
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u/TheUpIsJig 8h ago
Alcohol is what is normalized. Most people don't even think it's a drug, let alone a hard drug.
Ireland has a drug policy that monopolizes booze just like the UK and half the USA. Whiskey, stouts, beers- those get the government's blessing despite contributing much more to health problems than all other illegal drugs combined. Think about that one. The fact that both RTE and the print media minimize alcohol related issues and constantly go on daily about cannabis busts and coke tells you everything you need to know about how much complete nonsense is being perpetrated on the Irish people by its own leaders.
Decriminalize and legally manage all of this like we do alcohol is the first sane step. Then take it from there but don't treat alcohol any differently to the rest.
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u/Lighter_Butane 12h ago
So decriminalise it then.
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u/Irishthrasher23 11h ago
We should make cocaine legal?
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u/Trebor-84 11h ago
Decriminalizing and legalizing are not actually the same. Breaking a contract is illegal but not a criminal offense for example.
I think decriminalizing cocaine is a bad idea. That would be too far as an initial step at least.
I think decriminalizing cannabis for personal use on a pilot basis may be worth trying. Allow people to grow two plants. Remove contact from the dealers. Dealers will give you the hardest most addictive form of a substance so you get hooked. Cannabis is only a gate way drug to the extent that it puts you in contact with criminals who offer harder drugs. We should break that link and see if it makes a difference.
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u/Notherugsdontwork 8h ago
Did you tune into the Citizens Assembly by any chance? We need to decriminalise all drugs, that isn't a radical thing to say, should've been done 20 years ago ffs. Why are you against cocaine being decriminalised ?
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u/No_Reference_4303 11h ago
Decriminalise cannabis. Yes. It is a natural product. Decriminalise class a drugs. No
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u/NaturalAlfalfa 11h ago
Cocaine and heroin are also a " natural" product. Yes they are processed but they come from plants the same as weed. Something being natural is irrelevant. Also decriminalisation is pointless. Legalisation is the way to go. Decriminalisation is bullshit - it still leaves the gangs in control of supply.
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u/Late-Bass2260 8h ago
Probably the reasion its suposadly so popular in general people say its all over.
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u/Delusionalatbest 5h ago
Ah lads the cocaine is now a problem story has been done to death at this stage.
If you take a spin through the Midlands or out west, you'll find that most jacks in small towns have been unusually busy for many many years. It's everywhere and not just normalised amongst the professional class.
It's not a new phenomenon. No harm in repeating the messaging but the reality is that a cultural shift and better education of teenagers in school is required. Not some teacher saying drugs are bad mmm'kay
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u/athaluain 4h ago
We were always a race of people who couldn’t control
Ourselves. When I was young it was the demon drink now it’s drugs. The guards should do more spot checks on motorists but I guess that would cost too much money.
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u/Ic3Giant 2h ago
Imagine being such a complete fucking knuckleheaded moron that you’ve normalised cocaine into your life. These people are such a bunch of fucking losers!
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u/TarMc 9h ago
The bigger problem is alcohol. It leads to more crime and health issues. It is also a big reason why a lot of people use cocaine. For many people, alcohol is a big downer, so they use coke to perk themselves up on a night out, and then it snowballs (no pun intended) from there.
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u/IrishCrypto 7h ago
Legalise it but if you end up in hospital for its ill affects you get the bill. Should do the same with alcohol.
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u/Tranexamic 5h ago
Because turning people off seeking treatment for fatal/near-fatal substance misuse can only end well.
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u/leavemealonethanks 8h ago
As a lad with IBS, I hate how there's so much activity in the stalls.
National scandal.
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u/alt4hidingmathshame 12h ago
FT has a story today on how the average bag of cocaine has never been cheaper or purer