On Saturday night one of my staff spotted three young lads outside acting furtively. She went to find out what they were up to and they made to leave. One of them dropped some litter. They ran off.
On inspection we found the empty remains of a pill card ~ these lads were obviously popping these pills.
I'm sure this happens up and down the country but it still saddens me that so many young people seek to achieve an alternative state of consciousness and they do so chemically.
In the debate about binge-drinking, anti-social behaviour and problems with young people many seem to lay the blame for this moral decay firmly at the feet of the drinks industry and in particular the pubs. Barely a day passes in the newspapers when some journalist or another writes of a tragedy derived from alcohol abuse. It has become something of a truth that more people are drunker now than ever before. And yet, talking to one leading figure in the brewery, beer consumption is lower now than it has ever been (save 1932, strangely). So how come, back then, we could drink so much more and yet be far less drunk? The answer seems to be two-fold. I think, back then, we drank more often rather than in one evening binge. It seems strange that, given many pubs are open all day; people go to them less often. But I can remember the halcyon days of the Sunday 12 'til two session. It was my favourite.
Secondly, spirits were outrageously expensive, wine hadn't been invented and beer was the only option.
I should like to see people visiting the pub more often and drinking mainly beer. It isn't some dewy-eyed view of the good old days. It is simply that the experience was much less intense.
I still bridle when a young person asks me for a double vodka. My staff know now not to serve anything greater than a double measure and unless it is brandy or whisky always with an accompaniment. I would be happier if other licensees followed suit. I'd be happier if there were none of these promotions that fuel this compulsion to lose control.
But the pressure is not just from the suppliers of these products. There is undeniable demand by many young people, motivated by whatever reason, to reach a total state of unconsciousness. I have little doubt the young lads popping those pills sought such a state.
I examined the wrapper. It had the brand name on it.
Was it an 'upper' or 'downer'? Was it speed, amphetamines or LSD? No. They'd obviously raided the drugs cabinet at home. It seems they were popping impotence pills.
Now I feel kind of sorry for them.