White City was not written to glorify drug use. It simply presents the casual attitude to drug use among young people. This was the case in 1993 and I'm sure it is still the case now, and no laws or nanny-state interference are going to change that. In fact, recent research by a number of think tanks is proving that the "war on drugs" is being lost.
However recreational drug use is not without its consequences. Only now is the ecstasy generation of the late Eighties and early Nineties discovering that years of popping pills, speed, and the like does have long-term consequences. Many former ravers report high levels of anxiety and panic attacks.
Ryan experiences bouts of paranoia in the book. He sits up all night simply looking out of the window of his flat for any signs of movement which might indicate that he is under surveillance. Then there is the sinister blue car he begins to spot on a regular basis.
On top of that, I have included references to the consequences of drug dependency, such as the scag-head who Ryan and Mark bump into on their way back to their car, who used to be an acquaintance. There is also a visit to a crack den, with its plastic chairs and bare lightbulb - as far a cry from Mark and Ryan's upper-working class world as you could get.
This also serves to illustrate the use of drugs in all walks of society, contrasting as it does against the party in the penthouse apartment they have just left.
The overall message in White City is that drugs should be treated with caution. If not, the ramifications are many and varied.
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