By Alisha Samuel
During the UK’s first lockdown, some people relieved their boredom through crocheting, starting up their own business, or making realistic cakes meant to look like everyday objects, which fooled the human eye.
Others found a somewhat unique portal out of the tedium of reality through drugs, both Class A and Class B. Time simply became timeless when their routine was stripped from them.
Statistics from Release, a national organisation that provides information on drug use, showed that purchases of illegal drugs skyrocketed 62 percent during lockdown, including cannabis, ketamine and psychedelics, based on a survey of 2,621 people.
“Before lockdown I would smoke weed but not regularly. During lockdown I definitely started to smoke more often since I had a lot of free time,” said Fizzah Ahmed, 19, a physiotherapy student.
The Society for the Study of Addiction found that people were doing more of some drugs and less of others. “Crudely, use of ‘party drugs’, including MDMA, cocaine, amphetamine and ketamine, has fallen during COVID-19, whereas use of cannabis, a drug commonly consumed in the home, has increased” during lockdown, it said.
Hard to find suppliers
Release found that despite lockdown, people did not find it more difficult to find a drug supplier than before. One in 10 purchases, however, were made on the “darknet”, it said, adding that of that number, almost 15 percent had not bought drugs using that route in the past.
“Higher prices were more often reported as the first national lockdown eased and lifted – an observation consistent with supply shortages,” the report said.
Francis, 20, co-owner to his own pop-up store says, “I did find myself going to drugs to give myself more variety to my day.”
Did it work? “I found taking drugs made my relationship with taking drugs better and worse during this period,” added Francis, who did not want to give his surname.
Drugs are not for me
But not every young person used drugs to escape Covid. Iman Bashir, a university student, said she has not done any drugs since the first lockdown began.
“I was more depressed that my freedom was taken away from me and I knew drugs would make me feel even more shitty about being inside,” she said.
“It is so easy to use drugs as a coping mechanism, especially when you are alone. I do not want to end up having a vice so I completely stayed away from drugs.”
Coming from a strict household was also a barrier for drug use. Gabbie Hunter, a university student, said her relationship with drugs stayed the same before and during lockdown.
“I could not do any drugs because I had to be in the house,” she said.
“I am more willing experiment with drugs outside the house and my relationship and perspective with drugs did not change much since lockdown.”
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