Questions about strippers and drugs

tusclfix
Kentucky
First, this is not a whim post. I am genuinely looking for answers.

Context - I recently found out that one of my ATFs is now gone because of drugs. At the time, I didn't know / couldn't even tell that she was on anything. It is what it is. But for my peace of mind, I now have some questions concerning it. I feel like if I understand it better, I can accept it - if that makes sense. I can look up Wikipedia for drug info etc. but my questions are about how it plays in the club.

Also, please excuse the naievity of some of my questions, I actually don't know much about this. Lastly, I know it's hard to generalize, and that it depends on location, etc. but I'm just looking for what's typical to expect.

1. Can it be said that a lot of dancers are on drugs? Or is it usually more of a minority?

2. What drugs are commonly used by dancers?

3. Can you tell if a dancer is on drugs (vs like just inebriated on alcohol)? Can you differentiate between a dancer on drugs if they otherwise seem to be lucid?

4. Do clubs usually tolerate drugs? How much does management usually know?

5. For dancers that do drugs, do they usually end up doing drugs because of dancing or are they usually on drugs already in the first place?

6. Lastly, more of a personal question but should we (patrons) care? I'm not looking to go on a crusade or anything but I'm trying to figure out if I should try to avoid dancers on drugs or if I should just say forget it and just not give it a thought.

Thanks for the insights / opinions.

36 comments

Latest

crazyjoe
10 years ago
Penicillin
shailynn
10 years ago
I can't answer most of your questions but I can give you a little insight.

I think girls using drugs at certain clubs is very common. I've been in clubs where it's hard to find a girl that is not on drugs. Those clubs are clubs I don't hang out in.

I know an extremely attractive dancers that I had spent some time with over the years. She was addicted to prescriptions drugs and would take anything she could get her hands on. She would use these to get tipsy like a guy would use alcohol in a club. I knew her a long time before I knew she did this. She drank in the club as well so I always assumed she was tipsy from drinking until she let me know about her little secret one day. Has she not told me I would have assumed she was just s happy drunk... I also was planning on marrying her but after the drug issue I changed my mind - joke!

There are lots of drugs out there, but I would run away quickly from any girl snorting anything or using a needle, I am always shocked how many people I know that are addicted to heroin...
JamesSD
10 years ago
1. Drugs or booze, yes.

2. Booze is probably the most common. Pot. Coke and meth are out there. Probably not much heroin.

3. It depends. From a five minute interaction where I already know a girl is hustling? Maybe, maybe not.

4. Varies wildly.

5. Chicken or egg? The dancing probably doesn't help, but a lot of these girls would have substance issues either way.

6. If she's high functioning enough you can't tell, it's not really your business. The exception would be if you're regularly giving her extra cash to "help her out", as opposed to for services rendered. She might be using that cash for drugs. But we all have different opinions on drug use and abuse.
impala
10 years ago
I have known quite a few dancers, and most don't regularly use drugs, but do socially. From what I have seen, maybe 1 in 10 are actually addicts. IMO weed is very common, especially in the lower end clubs or those with more of a colored clientele and/or dancers. Crack is also somewhat common in the the lower end clubs, especially with Latinos and colored. X is a little more prevalent in clubs that seem to be more like a dance club with strippers. Coccain seems to be the drug of choice in high end clubs, mostly with white girls that come from upper middle class families. Of coarse, these are only observations that I have made and the lines are very blurry between them, and of coarse alcohol is prevelant in almost all. As far as your question about club toleration, officially they don't, but I have know dancers that smoke weed or do lines with the bouncers, bartenders, managers, etc. so while not officially condoned, it goes on (hell, knew one girl who told me that the club owner was also her dealer, real screwed up situation). Like any part of life, people who feel they have few or no choices in life often fall into using drugs, while others enjoy the "party lifestyle" and that's how they get involved. As far as telling wnether they are using or not, it can be hard, especially for those who recreationally use or have been doing it for a while but not hard (just like the "functional alcoholic", and some it's hard not to tell. Biggest jugestion I can say is if it's your thing, go with it, if it's not, stay clear the best you can so that you don't get dragged in.

Now that I have posted my thoughts, everyone who disagrees with me just remember, this is only MY OPPINION, and there are always exceptions to the rules.
tusclfix
10 years ago
Thanks Shail, James.

I had been giving that ATF a little more cash to "help her out".

Even that little insight helps me refactor my perspective / expectations.

Yeah, I know I'm naive in this specific regard. I shouldn't do it or shouldn't care or something...
chandler
10 years ago
I agree with all of James' answers, except that I'd say weed is at least as widely used by strippers as alcohol, and heroin has become very common in recent years. I'd also include opiods, Xanax and MMDA among the drugs of choice.
impala
10 years ago
Chandler, I agree, prescription drugs in recent years are also becoming more prevelant.
JohnSmith69
10 years ago
I have a lot more insights into these questions lately because of a particular young stripper that I gave grown very close to. Here are my answers to your questions.

1. Can it be said that a lot of dancers are on drugs? Or is it usually more of a minority?

The significant majority of dancers in most clubs take some sort of illegal drugs. This doesn't mean they are mostly all addicts, or that they are usually high on something when they dance. But almost all of them do drugs to some degree.

2. What drugs are commonly used by dancers?

Weed is by far the most common. Coke is up there. Also fairly common is molly, shrooms, and ecstasy. There is definitely a contingent of heroine users but they are a minority.

3. Can you tell if a dancer is on drugs (vs like just inebriated on alcohol)? Can you differentiate between a dancer on drugs if they otherwise seem to be lucid?

As I get more familiar with dancers and drugs sometimes I can tell, but often you can't know.

4. Do clubs usually tolerate drugs? How much does management usually know?

Totally depends upon the club. They range from clubs where drugs are openly sold on the floor to places that use police drug dogs to keep drugs out. Dives tend to have more open drug use whereas as in more upscale places it is usually hidden. Club management's main concern is that they don't loose their liquor license for having drugs ITC. They usually try to do what is needed to keep LE off their backs.

5. For dancers that do drugs, do they usually end up doing drugs because of dancing or are they usually on drugs already in the first place?

If they are using when they start, the club environment will likely lead to more drug use. If they aren't using when they start, they will likely soon be experimenting because of the drug culture among strippers. If a girl hangs out with stripper friends, she is almost inevitably going to end up using drugs. It's the rare stripper who has been in the job a while who never does drugs.

6. Lastly, more of a personal question but should we (patrons) care? I'm not looking to go on a crusade or anything but I'm trying to figure out if I should try to avoid dancers on drugs or if I should just say forget it and just not give it a thought.

You are not their father, boyfriend, comforter, or savior. You are their customer. You don't worry about the personal life of other sales people that you deal with on a daily basis, and you have no business doing so for these girls either. I admit that I often want to help them despite this advice, especially the ones I feel close to. But it will do no good. They are adults and have to make their own decisions.
JohnSmith69
10 years ago
As proof of the strong influence of the stripper drug culture, a stripper has now gotten me to smoke pot on a regular basis for the first time in my life. It started out cause it was awkward to have the girl I was fucking regularly get high before sex so I tried it. It was awesome so I've continued. I love sex while high, and talking to my wife is much more pleasant lately. I've refused to try the other shit she does, at least so far, but who knows.
4got2wipe
10 years ago
I don't like drugs at all! Seriously not brilliant! I don't want anybody doing drugs around my house or in my car!

In the club or anyplace else I'm a "don't ask don't tell" guy! As long as the drugs aren't in my face I'm brilliant!
mikeya02
10 years ago
John, your DS is not an adult. If you like her, being a little nurturing isn't a bad thing. If she starts doing hard drugs all the time, you wouldn't like it. Drugs (not weed) changes everything.
4got2wipe
10 years ago
JohnSmith69 you're edging into not brilliant territory! Just watch out for yourself! I'm OK with booze and beer and I drink all the time but it's not like I drink myself stupid all the time! Not brilliant!

Drugs aren't legal and they aren't worth the trouble! Never done them and never will as long as they're illegal! If pot were legal who knows, but not worth the trouble!

I just try to be brilliant!
4got2wipe
10 years ago
Mikeya02 just said something extra brilliant!
JamesSD
10 years ago
I barely count weed as a drug. I lump it in with booze. I don't want my coworkers showing up baked, nor do I want them cong back from lunch wasted. But I treat smoking a little pot on the weekends the same as getting a little drunk. Just don't drive a car and we're cool.

Abuse of prescription meds is obviously trickier all around. I had an ex gf who took Xanax legitimately with a prescription. Unless you live with someone it's hard to know if that pill is medical or something more recreational.
Clackport
10 years ago
Weed is very common. Coke and molly is not too far behind. The strip club culture is about drugs, money, alcohol and sex. I'm sure there's a lot of strippers that weren't heavy drug users before they started stripping, but stripping turned them into drug addicts.
JohnSmith69
10 years ago
I agree with James. Weed is in the same category as alcohol, but fewer negative side effects and long term consequences. If I were intimidated by minor activity being illegal, then I wouldn't be paying strippers for sex which is probably a more serious offense than possessing a little weed.

Mikey, I hear what you're saying. I do try to discourage her from ever doing the hard stuff because I do care about her and don't want her to fuck up her life. She is the only dancer I've ever known who I could discuss this kind of issue with. She has promised me it was just experimentation and won't be repeated, and right now she only does weed and coke. However, she works with a lot of people who are a bad influence in this regard and there is only so much I can do.

rockstar666
10 years ago
I'd say more than half of the dancers use some kind of drugs; mostly pills of some kind. I haven't seen a lot of coke like I did 20 years ago, but when I was hanging at my ATF's apartment she ground up some klonopin (?) and we snorted it. That was a new one on me! Most also smoke pot but not usually at work. They want energy, not quiet reflection. And of course they drink but my club restricts how much dancers are allowed to drink so I rarely see one drunk.
dtek
10 years ago
Of the dancers I've gotten to know well enough to talk about drugs, I never met one who did not use some sort of illicit drug. Weed appears to be almost universally used among strippers in my city. It's also very commonly used by customers. Xanax and Klonopin are commonly used to control anxiety. Since most strippers have no health insurance it's mostly self medication. Coke and molly are common recreational drugs. Opiate use is not uncommon. I'd guess 20-30 percent use opiates at least occasionally.

JohnSmith69's observation is correct: the clubs don't care as long as it doesn't cause them problems with LE. I once actually heard a club owner tell a dancer that she needed to go out to her car if she was going to smoke pot while at the club. She had been smoking on the club entrance steps.
impala
10 years ago
Rockstar, you are right to a point, 20 years ago you did see alot more coke, i think it's still (if not more) prevalent, I just think that their just not as open today about it (or any drugs). I think that the enforcement of drug laws and policies today are much higher than they were a couple of decades ago (for even minor violations) and people are just not as open today about it.
rickdugan
10 years ago
My two cents based upon what I am seeing and hearing.

1. Can it be said that a lot of dancers are on drugs? Or is it usually more of a minority?

R: Weed use is very common, as is alcohol abuse. In my experience the number of girls on hard drugs are a minority, but not an insignificant one in some areas.

2. What drugs are commonly used by dancers?

R: Besides weed, heroin and oxy are all too common in my neck of the woods. Coke is also still floating around out there, but it is less popular than H or oxy, probably because of the short-term nature of the buzz and high expense involved. I also occasionally come across a meth head, but I think a lot of girls avoid meth because of the all too obvious and long-term side effects.

3. Can you tell if a dancer is on drugs (vs like just inebriated on alcohol)? Can you differentiate between a dancer on drugs if they otherwise seem to be lucid?

R: Depends on the drug. it is pretty hard for many of them to hide heoin or oxy because it causes slurring and nodding, at leaat at high doses. Coke and weed are far less obvious in my experience.

4. Do clubs usually tolerate drugs? How much does management usually know?

R: Some don't care, some care a lot and will send girls home, and some use the blind eye approach, which means that they will tolerate it so long as it does not become too obvious. Depends entirely on the club and its management.

5. For dancers that do drugs, do they usually end up doing drugs because of dancing or are they usually on drugs already in the first place?

R: Who really knows? Some of both I suspect, though I have heard more than a few stories about girls who started experimenting with drugs that they were first given in a club.

6. Lastly, more of a personal question but should we (patrons) care? I'm not looking to go on a crusade or anything but I'm trying to figure out if I should try to avoid dancers on drugs or if I should just say forget it and just not give it a thought

R: I am nobody's nanny, but neither do I have any interest in messing with a girl who is fucked up. That goes for alcohol intoxication as well. I'm also not overly interested in fucking IV drug users. Beyond that, if it is not obvious, I subscribe to a Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.
san_jose_guy
10 years ago
"4. Do clubs usually tolerate drugs? How much does management usually know?

5. For dancers that do drugs, do they usually end up doing drugs because of dancing or are they usually on drugs already in the first place?

6. Lastly, more of a personal question but should we (patrons) care? I'm not looking to go on a crusade or anything but I'm trying to figure out if I should try to avoid dancers on drugs or if I should just say forget it and just not give it a thought.
"

Clubs don't want to get in trouble. So most of them enforce policies preventing there from being drugs on site. But are they actually effective in doing this? Dancers have shown me how they hide their stuff. I ask them why the do this and they say, "Because I can't do this job without a buzz."

And then do they seriously try to exclude dancers who are intoxicated on site? Do they enforce the same way that the Post Office would, or that Safeway would?

I don't think so. I am sure that the clubs know that lots of their dancers are on drugs and they know which ones these are.

I think that work environment does encourage drugs. But I also say that the ones who do drugs are ones who are inclined to live life via dissociation anyway.

I am continually telling the Born Again Christians, "People who have been treated with dignity and respect and who have been given the chance to develop and apply their abilities, are not likely to have problems with drugs or alcohol." What I mean is that there is no need of getting Saved. It is not caused by moral defect. It is caused by abuses and the inability to face the pain.

What is also true is that those not in denial are not likely to be taken in by Born Again Christianity either.

Now lots of people today seem to think that marijuana is nothing. I do not agree. I say that it again is an agent of dissociation. Someone who needs it has something the matter which they are not facing.

I think we should care. It is not just dancers though. I say that the more you can screen out of your life people involved with drugs, alcohol, tobacco, motivationalism, born again Christianity, or psychiatric medication, the better. These people don't want to become conscious. No good will come from associating with them until they decide to change. Avoid anyone who talks about being in "Recovery" or going to 12-step meetings. These things are simply chemical free varieties of intoxication. They are for people who don't want to get straight.

One thing good. Though this is not the intended effect, in Calif at the nude clubs, no alcohol is allowed. So you are less likely to find dancers who need to stay buzzed all day long. This is an improvement.

And yes, at most clubs there are lots of dancers who don't use anything. They are straight like Air Traffic Controllers. And you can tell this from talking to them over a period of time.

Also at AMPs, there is no drugs or alcohol. There used to be tobacco, but because of the clean indoor air laws, in California this is completely gone now. Imagine, being able to be with girls clean of all these things, and of Recovery, Motivationalism, Born Again Christianity, and Psychiatric Medication. Each time I even window shop at an AMP I want to take each one of the girls home with me. And when I session with a girl, invariably I end up feeling like I want to marry her.

SJG

Ho Chi Minh
a very interesting man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t91XJ9bI…
chandler
10 years ago
One thing that gets lost in all the head shaking about drugs as a problem is that most people start taking them to have fun. That's why they're called recreational drugs. Nobody sets out to be a sad junkie. (Except maybe for jazz musicians.) Most strippers I've known seemed to keep it fairly under control.

From a purely practical standpoint with strippers, the ones who are past the fun drug-taking stage and saddled with a desperate addiction are hell to deal with. Addicts become horrible liars and thieves. They'll say or do anything to try to hide their addiction, but they don't much care about being caught lying or stealing, as long as there's a short term chance it'll help them score their dope. So that's a big reason why it's in your self interest to avoid strippers who you find out are hooked on hard drugs.
4got2wipe
10 years ago
Chandler's comments are brilliant! If somebody else is doing something that is really their business and I'm not going to say anything! But if they're strung out and might steal from me or even create the potential that I might get arrested thats not brilliant! I stay away!
san_jose_guy
10 years ago
The problem is not just that they are strung out and might steal. There is also a problem in that if you try to interact with them it will go no where good, because they are committed to denying their own feelings and their own life experience. This is why I say it is better to avoid them.

SJG
4got2wipe
10 years ago
^^^
Brilliant!
JohnSmith69
10 years ago
I'd like to think that I'd never get involved with a stripper addict for the reasons chandler described. But if the DS became an addict, would I stop? Probably not cause she is my addiction. I just hope it never comes to that but I know that it could.
ilbbaicnl
10 years ago
I have a personal, practical perspective. One of the big reasons I don't just try to hook up with women who actually want to get busy with me is that I'm much pickier than I have any right to be. I want to get with a chick who's healthy and well-proportioned, which I am not. Addicts are rarely attractive by this standard, so I just avoid them. Otherwise, as long as somebody's not driving a car, flying a plane, etc. it's none of my affair.
jackslash
10 years ago
Sex, drugs, rock & roll. And strippers.
gawker
10 years ago
My experience: when I met my ATF more than 5 years ago, she told me right up front that she was a heroin addict, that she'd recently left rehab and was getting by ok on methadone. While I'd done my share of drugs in the 60's while in college I knew little about heroin.
Her BF was in prison and I met her at her condo which was neat & clean and well kept. I started seeing her regularly and she was saving money & doing well. Her BF got out and she continued on methadone but they started using H again. I was with the two of them one night and watched them shooting up and having trouble getting a good vein because of years of usage. I watched him shooting her in the neck with rivulets of blood running down on her breasts - sickening.
He went back to prison and she went into rehab again. This has been repeated over & over. One time I asked her if she'd shoot me up so I'd better understand the attraction. I got a real good high out of it, but not what I was looking for - very poor sex resulted - she told me I had "dope dick".
Over the years I've learned from her which dancers are using heroin and which aren't. At this one club about 25% are regular heroin users and most of the others smoke weed. H users like Xanax cuz it carries them for awhile till their next hit.
At one point she went on a crack binge while going to the methadone clinic daily. She doesn't eat much when using crack and loses weight when using crack or rock.
The2nd time I asked her to inject me she swears she only used a 1/4 gram and as soon as the plunger injected me I OD'd & lost consciousness. She called 911 and the EMT got there in minutes and after giving me Narcan, explained I wasn't breathing when he arrived.
I've seen the sub-culture of drugs in this area and it's ugly. I had a recent parolee teach me how to "cook" crack from powder, I've heard the stories of thievery and crime to get the $$ and I've met the criminals.
So many females start using begin dancing for the quick money, and end up prostitutes just to turn it over to their dealer.
A sad situation all around.
aroundtown
10 years ago
I know many strippers that spend more on drugs than they do on their rent.

Add pain pills to the drug of choice list.

rl27
10 years ago
1. It depends on the club, but from my experience around 30 percent are using some sort of substance whether it's alcohol or drugs, with about 15 percent using drugs. I have been in some clubs where a large percentage of dancers are high, and I usually try to avoid those clubs.

2. The majority that admitted getting high smoked weed. The rest I never cared to find out, although I did find out from several dancers that one of my favorites a few years ago got busted for cocaine.

3. Some are fairly obvious, vacant stare, slurred speech, or are overly hyper.

4. I have seen enough clubs get busted or closed over the years, that it's obvious a lot don't care, and those that do only to make sure the dancers aren't taking drugs while in the club.

An for your second part I suspect ever clubs knows.

5. A little of both.

6. It's up to you, but there isn't much you can do other than tell them that maybe stripping isn't for them. Which I have told a few over the years.
JohnSmith69
10 years ago
damn gawker. I will take doing heroin with the DS off my bucket list for good.

Seriously don't think I'd ever try it, but you just solidified that decision.


skibum609
10 years ago
Really sad that people who think so little about themselves have to disrespect the dancers just to feel superior. This is supposed to be a fun hobby, not a substitute for a real life with a wife, family and job.
Pundi
10 years ago
Drugs aren't always taken in the club, but drugs are a regular occurrence for many, if not, most dancers.

Weed's barely worth calling a drug, unless you're a cop. Coke still happens, but in the 1980s it was much bigger. Molly's the new big thing for dancers, at least for the last three years or so.

It's not that hard to tell if a dancer's on drugs - if you think they might be, they probably are.
Tiredtraveler
10 years ago
Hands down the most common are tobacco, pot and booze with a little cocaine on the side. That is if you are going to the better clubs. In the lower end clubs it is tobacco, meth, pot and booze.
I find it is the same drugs used by the uneducated portion of the young population but they use more because they have money and no one cares if they are intoxicated at work so the problem is magnified. Once they start in on the crack and meth they don't last long in the business that depends on looks and quickly move from the high end clubs where the girls mostly look good are forced to move to the lower end clubs with bad teeth and skin.
I'll never understand hard drug use.
dtek
10 years ago
It looks like drug use varies widely from city to city. I'm amazed that only 30% of the strippers rl27 knows use even alcohol and only 15% use drugs.
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