Party Vibe

@MiniMarc 454720 wrote:

I think it will be interesting to seein 5 years time as the current generation in uni are much more clued up on drugs than people of my age group (30ish). Its more widely acceptable amongst younger ppl to be doing drugs than it was 5-10 years ago so when these people are my age i wonder what the situation will be

From the younger people I encounter, especially inteligent ones who have gone up to University the impression I get is that whilst they are indeed less judgemental about non problematic drug users, they actually do far less drugs and booze than your generation – and mine too! This is because of positive things – liberal parenting and newer education methods meaning college/uni courses actually being interesting and engaging so they genuinely don’t want to fuck their lives up or disrespect their families.

Last festive season I went to visit some friends having a house party. All right on hippy types but good people I have respect for.

10 years ago that would have been a all nighter.

Instead there was a limited supply of booze, a fair amount of very healthy (but vegan) food (which is fair enough given their views) – not one chemical in site (“bad for you and bad karma” is some of their views, although TBH I think many legal RC’s and even mephedrone was the nearest you could get to “fair trade drugs” :laugh_at:) one lad asked me very furtively (as if his mum was in the next room) “can you get us any weed?” I looked through my Blackberry and unfortunately my answer was “nah, all my old contects either busted by the feds, had mental health issues and quit smoking, or left the UK” (which was 100% true :cry:)

By 02:00 I was about the only one left awake, other than a vegan hippy who I ended up drunkenly talking to about squats and autonomous zones, and I think was is in her 30s. Even then she was getting ready to go to bed. The youths were all in bed, one had work the next day, the rest “needed to get up early as they had some animal rights project to do” (this was a weekend BTW)..

Although wider age groups/mature students are much more common I’ve not been to uni (as a student) for over 20 years myself (although I lived in a uni city for many years after that (Reading). In comparison everyone there was right caners., very similar to what you mention if not more extreme stuff going on. 😉

These young people I met (actually a variety of folk from uni age to my age today) are very laid back, tolerant and liberal minded people – just that they are a lot more focused and ambitious, albeit in different ways to the mainstream, and hedonism of any kind takes second priority to whatever else they wish to achieve in life. What I am noticing is a definiite change of attitudes amongst young people in comparison between 1990 and 2010. Not saying that its a bad thing at all (some aspects of it are very positive TBH) but its definitely happened in some parts of England (maybe more those away from big city areas).

@kiwifruit 455130 wrote:

If beer or all alcohol could have an ingredient that made people mellow and loved up then it would be a win win for everyone!

Centuries ago many brews did, it once did, but people also (either by accident or lack of science knowledge) introduced blatantly poisonous substances into the beer. Somehow faith groups and the Germans got involved and “cleaned it all up” with various rules. (long before the EU was even thought of!)

What I noticed in my town (and made worse rather than better by mephedrone) was that townie/binge drinking culture and dance music scenes had essentially merged by the end of the 2000s which has led to both of them being judged harshly and clamped down on by the authorities, though of course the big binge drinking places are funded by large leisure firms based in London and can afford to pay high licensing costs and pass them on to the punters who don’t complain as its still cheaper and viewed as safer than actually travelling to London!