The 80's are back at Penn

[Anonymous]

http://34stfeatures.github.io/the-dividing-line/

Cocaine use rampant at penn in the article above to the stress penn kids have that's causing mental health issues and suicides - what's up with Penn these days?

[Anonymous]

And heroine is rampant at U Mass Amherst:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/15/umass-amherst-stop-using-students-police-informants-wake-informant-overdose-death/WBXxHZkfTGirU4UegpczCM/story.html

What's your point, OP?

[Anonymous]

OP here - just asking what's up with Penn these days.

Didn't know that about UMass - what's driving it up there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And heroine is rampant at U Mass Amherst:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/15/umass-amherst-stop-using-students-police-informants-wake-informant-overdose-death/WBXxHZkfTGirU4UegpczCM/story.html

What's your point, OP?

Rampant? The article is about one kid. Where care the stats about rampant use?

[Anonymous]

I graduated from Penn in 2000 and would say that there was plenty of cocaine use when I was there - not rampant, but visible. When I moved to NY after graduation, it was the same thing among some of my friends from Penn as well as people from other schools. This article doesn't convince me that much has changed. In fact, there's a section describing alumni using it at Homecoming. They were probably using it as students too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://34stfeatures.github.io/the-dividing-line/

Cocaine use rampant at penn in the article above to the stress penn kids have that's causing mental health issues and suicides - what's up with Penn these days?

Rampant? This article doesn't suggest that. I was at UMPC when Len Bias died. There was a small group of kids and certain circles doing coke. I never saw it. Seems like this is still the case, and I am willing to bet at many other campuses, not just Penn

[Anonymous]

Pretty much every college is dealing with drug issues now. When you think about the role of drugs in our culture, it's not surprising. Scary, but not surprising. Your post made me think about my GW drug story.

I spent a few days last year living in downtown GW student housing that accommodated students and visiting scholars. As I was returning to my apartment one evening - early, it was still light - I noticed a student chatting with his friends at the top of the steps in front of the building's entrance. He was loudly and very casually talking about the two experiences he'd had with acid.

I was obviously a professor, there were plenty of pedestrians passing by, and he was very loudly talking as if he were discussing the two times he'd eaten yogurt. His friends were just as casual.

[Anonymous]

Within the Ivies in the 80s, Penn was definitely known for coke. Lots of young Wharton types trying to emulate what they thought were the lifestyles of Wall Street bankers, plenty of rich kids from Long Island, NJ, and MoCo spending their generous allowances on blow.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose?

[Anonymous]

I was at Penn in the 1980s (graduated in 1990) - never saw nor heard about cocaine use except as a stereotype about Wharton graduates on Wall Street. It certainly wasn't prevalent on campus then, and I'm skeptical that this is the case now.

Fwiw the article linked is from the student newspaper's weekly magazine, which has always been run by upper middle class white kids desperate to make themselves edgy and hip. This article is a job application by an aspiring Rolling Stone journalist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at Penn in the 1980s (graduated in 1990) - never saw nor heard about cocaine use except as a stereotype about Wharton graduates on Wall Street. It certainly wasn't prevalent on campus then, and I'm skeptical that this is the case now.

Fwiw the article linked is from the student newspaper's weekly magazine, which has always been run by upper middle class white kids desperate to make themselves edgy and hip. This article is a job application by an aspiring Rolling Stone journalist.

Not prevalent? How about 4 pounds of cocaine found in a mailroom?
http://www.library.upenn.edu/docs/kislak/dp/1987/1987_04_14.pdf


Or the UPenn dental student running a major cocaine operation?
http://www.fbi.gov/philadelphia/about-us/history/famous-cases/famous-cases-larry-lavin-and-the-201cyuppie-conspiracy201d
http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Dealer-All-American-Multimillion-Dollar-Cocaine/dp/0802137571
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Snow-Nailed-League-Coke/dp/0741405601

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at Penn in the 1980s (graduated in 1990) - never saw nor heard about cocaine use except as a stereotype about Wharton graduates on Wall Street. It certainly wasn't prevalent on campus then, and I'm skeptical that this is the case now.

Fwiw the article linked is from the student newspaper's weekly magazine, which has always been run by upper middle class white kids desperate to make themselves edgy and hip. This article is a job application by an aspiring Rolling Stone journalist.

It's far better researched and credible than the other articles written by the Penn graduate writing for Rolling Stone.

[Anonymous]

Interesting. DD's perception of Penn, based on kids from her school who want to go there, is that it's a party school. I tried to talk her out of that POV, but she was pretty vehement.

[Anonymous]

Penn undergrads are doing quaaludes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Within the Ivies in the 80s, Penn was definitely known for coke. Lots of young Wharton types trying to emulate what they thought were the lifestyles of Wall Street bankers, plenty of rich kids from Long Island, NJ, and MoCo spending their generous allowances on blow.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose?

I didn't know that and was in an ivy at the time. There was coke everywhere there was money, so this doesn't surprise.

Maybe it is just the circles I hung with, but I saw more MDMA and the like than I did coke.

[Anonymous]

https://www.thedp.com/article/2018/09/isabella-simonetti-opioid-crisis-cocaine-fentanyl-narcotics-ivy-league-upenn-scene-overdose-temple-philadelphia-adderall