The club kids printing their drugs

With an influx of clubbers choosing a gram over a bottle, it’s no surprise that the drug scene is more intense than it has been in years. Over the last decade there has been a relatively major reduction in heroin and crack use yet an increase in a new group of drugs called "club drugs". Ketamine, MDMA, mephedrone and the recent resurface of the drug PMA have led to a dance floor full of sweaty, gurning narc heads. Let’s be honest, we have all seen or been the only one on the dance floor past the point of no return, where any beat is a good beat and every person is your new best friend. The question is how and when did breaking the law become acceptable in the name of fun and what is next?

In the 80’s crack cocaine was the most popular recreational drug, although frequently used by youth because it was cheap, plentiful, and highly addictive it was also glamorized by Hollywood and played a part in the lives of every social class. Drugs were a luxury accessible to everyone, the rich would snort coke and the poor smoke crack. Uniting  The 90’s saw a an uproar in Ecstasy, meth and particularly  LSD, a hallucinogenic accidentally discovered and ingested by Dr. Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist working for Sandoz Laboratories, who found himself embarking on the first LSD "trip" in history in 1943. The opening of Ministry Of sound and the launch of gay all-nighter trade meant there was a split in house music and what was soon to be techno and Drum and bass which provided the perfect environment for drug fiends to meet other drug fiends, have a little dance and in most cases, an all dayer. An all dayer more than likely took place in a dingy grotesque flat and inevitably led to an empty wallet, a regrettable comedown and an overwhelming disgust for yourself – till the next weekend where you would do it all over again. However, with the use of anti-drug programmes such as DARE (Drug abuse resistance programme) by the last decade of the millennium, it appeared that fewer people were using drugs, postulating that the cool kids were the ones NOT taking drugs.

Despite this, today, it is reported that 67% of UK clubbers have took MDMA in the last 12 months, and 50.7% taken ketamine. The younger generation are less concerned about the possible side effects and dangers that taking drugs can cause, prioritising having a good night over their health. What starts as a ‘oh, I’ll try a little bit, loads of people do it so I’m sure it’s all harmless fun’ can become a habitual routine where every night out or night in is an excuse to rack up the lines. Unphased by the law, we have hit an age where more British clubbers are more regularly using MDMA than tobacco or energy drinks, a shocking fact that shows the extent of the problem we are facing.

Gaining access to drugs has also never been easier, a quick phone call or text, a walk down the road and whatever you desire will be yours within 15 minutes. Take a stroll through Camden and you will be haggled by a hooded dealer whispering ‘smoke’ or stand in the smoking area of a club and you are more than likely to be offered anything from meth to an array of unknown pills for a small price.  But for those who are wary of purchasing anything off these harrowing strangers, a scientist has founded a brand new way to get your hit. The solution? 3D printing.

Within 10-15 years we will all be able to print custom drugs adapted to whatever our needs are, in the comfort of our homes. Whether it’s a tab of LSD or a pain killer after a recent operation, 3D printing will provide a new source for us to easily and quickly produce and access the specific drugs we need. It could even lead to being able to give people the medicine they need, specifically customized just for them, to combat diseases that are currently incurable.  How is this going to control the current drug epidemic we are in? Well, 3D printing will allow the government to control and eliminate the present drug economy we are in where wars are waged and billions exchanged illegally, we could enter a brave new world where taking any drug is as legal as buying an bottle of wine from the corner shop because drugs will be so tailored it’ll be impossible for the state to keep up without resorting to selling them itself.