Hurdling White Lines: Dodging Cocaine

Hello readers, it has been a few months since the previous post. I feel it is safe to say that my thought vault on race is closed, for now. So what shall we discuss? Oh, let us speak about cocaine. That is right, that good ol’ “blow.” Since moving here, to New York City, I have encountered (not used, let us be clear) this common drug a handful of times.

You might ask, how or where in the hell were you to even be around cocaine? So before I clarify all of that let us remember that I am from The Bahamas. Back home, people smoke weed but cocaine and other street drugs are frowned upon, greatly. Even if people snort cocaine back home it is done so very discretely. This is not the case in New York City and in fact many people who read this post will probably say, “Get Over Yourself or you are making a big deal out of nothing.” Well, call me lame for speaking about being in the presence of it but it is a big deal.

Let us rewind to July 2015. I attended a summer party for a popular clothing brand by myself. Oh yes, I ride solo, I am not going to miss out because I do not have someone to go with me. Anyways, so I am enjoying my beer and bumping to the tunes of the DJ. There were a group of guys next to me and one of them pulled out a little baggie with white powder. Now, at first I thought nothing of it. One guy scooped some of this powder up with his pinky finger and licked it like candy. Still, I thought nothing of it. The second guy placed his index finger in the bag and then placed it in his nostril and inhaled sharply. In that second it clicked and I said to myself, “Is that, no man, you lie, OH SHIT!” I will not exaggerate this but I am not lying when I say, seeing someone snort cocaine for the first time is jarring. The guys saw me being nosey and then offered me some but I started repeating no as if I had a speech impediment

Well from that evening on I noticed cocaine’s presence at many events and the conversation would always lead to it. “I don’t smoke weed or take pills, I just do a little cocaine,” said one girl. Also, cocaine definitely is not a big deal to the rich. Just two weeks ago I was walking on Park Avenue and this lady walks out and converses with the doorman, “Uggh! I’m so stressed I just want a vacant apartment and a pile of cocaine.” Who are these people? There is this misconception that only junkies use cocaine but nope, that is crack cocaine. Cocaine is very much used by wealthy people as it is just another assistant during their moments of fun. Some of these same nicely dressed men on Wall Street host parties where lines of cocaine are served on silver platters, allegedly. Scorsese’s ‘Wolf Of Wall Street’ may be of another era but those wild times still occur. Oh and then there are the younger students who blow through thousands of their parents money for the drug during many endless summer vacations.

I am not going to go into detail on the negative effects cocaine has on one’s health; that list is long enough. What I want to do is briefly self-analyze why I am so fascinated by cocaine in the party culture here in New York City. Well for one, it is ingrained in me that drugs are bad despite this 2010 article claiming the more intelligent you are the more likely you are to do drugs. Second, if you know a person it is pretty easy to acquire and last, it is forbidden. Liking what you cannot have, or experiencing what you are not allowed to, is that you? That is me but snorting cocaine is not in line with my moral code so I can be wowed by the casual use of it by others all I want but I refuse to take some of that “booga suga.”

Now, with that being said, I leave you with this classic 80’s song, based on cocaine, “White Lines (Don’t Do It)” by Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel.