WORK HARD
PLAY HARDER
Writen and visualized by
Nick van den Broek & Dionne Swinkels
Snoring some ketamine and using GHB; in the weekends he does a lot of things. “I don’t have a reasonable time to take it, but normally I start early. There is always something like a Friday afternoon drink, which is a perfect moment to take a bit of speed”. With a manicure set packed Mark goes partying.
As we sat down, he lights up a joint. A cup of tea in his hand and cigarets within reach. He has closed the curtains because of to much sunlight. It is Tuesday and he is at home. Mark is a typical Millennial living in Holland. Working, highly educated and always on the look out for his weekends with friends. The subculture is unknown for many people amongst us: they work hard and play harder. “I had an afterparty once that was going on for 3 days. But last weekend I was home around 7 in the morning and that’s okay with me. I was tired.” When the weekend starts, Mark and his friends come to life. Party time! There are no limits when it comes to use something on festivals these days, explains Mark. “It is a long time ago since I celebrated a weekend without drugs. It’s easy to find a nice event, my friends always suggest good parties.” When it comes to Mark’s group of friends there is no age limit, some of them are 35 years old and have children others go all the way down to 20, he cares more about their personality. Mark was 21 when he took his first ecstasy pill. Now 7 years later he still does it. He has a nice group friends. Everyone gets along with one another. “The core is always in for a rave. We talk about it and it is not weird to see someone snoring a line of speed of the table or taking a shot of GHB”. He is always looking forward to dance, meet new interesting people and enjoy the music. But at an afterparty he feels more safe. There is no secrecy about doing drugs within his group. Basically everyone is doing drugs and party as long as possible. There are no limits when it comes to using drugs during these weekends. “It is quite common to see each other doing drugs, so it’s a relaxed atmosphere.” The security level is unstable and there are no regulations of how many security staff must attend a rave and therefore it is quite doable to take a sniff or a pill on the dance floor. Some events are more secure than others. “That’s the only reason to be careful,” explains Mark as he takes a hit from his joint. His favorite activities are, next to dancing, walking around the venue area, having a little chat and of course sitting on a bench sniffing some speed. Mark is interested in people who attend techno raves and festivals. Everybody has a connection that night: drugs and electronic music.
When the party ends, Mark and his friends are definitely not done yet. Afterwards he joins a house party where the party spirit continues. Sometimes they attend official afterparties of a rave but mostly, Mark and his friends find themselves at someones home to continue the night. Everyone is welcome and sometimes the arrangements are done before Mark arrives: groceries, DJ’s and of course, more drugs. He says: “We look after each other when we are sitting at someone’s place. If the drugs are hitting you too hard, there’s always possibility to lie down or go home. I became the man who is bringing his manicure set to afterparties.” When the weekend is just around the corner, Mark know’s exactly where to find his drugs. “I’m not always totally out of my mind, but for example a small line is always good when I become tired. I also don’t have a specific time to take it, but normally I start early. There is always something like a Friday afternoon drink, which is a perfect moment to take some speed” says Mark comfortably while taking a sip of his tea. “I use it more often now. Ecstasy not that much anymore, but Ketamine and GHB are my favorites. I use speed for the energy and also because it is much cheaper than cocaine. It is also easier to dose. A good sniff of Ketamine will come up within 10 minutes and it is gone within an hour, more or less. The horny part of GHB is what I like the most about that drug”.
Buying drugs in Amsterdam and everywhere else in The Netherlands is quite easy. A simple text message will do the job. Mark has a dealer that he knows for over 3 years, a nice guy with good quality and a good price - a fast and easy transaction. “The first time ever I took an ecstasy pill was during a festival called Pinkpop, a well known festival in The Netherlands. A friend asked me once if I wanted to try XTC. I was 21 years old, not to young to try in my opinion. He and another friends of mine had done it once or twice before. At first I was reticent but I did it anyway and since that time it has gone up and down with me, depends on how you see it” explains Mark while laughing.
Us in g d ru gs fo r a n e s c a p e “I’ve seen the subculture grown over the last couple of years. It wasn’t really there before in the way that it appears now” says Mark. “Well, of course people have always done drugs, but has changed how is done nowadays. It works like a reset button. An escape from reality where we live in this society. But the age for experimental usage is dropping”. Mark has a high education and a good job. He studied Tax Law at the Maastricht University and currently works as a tax advisor, but his contract is running just for another 6 months. After that he would like to work somewhere else. “My colleagues are nice, but the conversations are quite boring” says Mark. Working 8 hours a day and every hour that he worked have to report to his manager. He don’t go that often to a bar or a cafe in Amsterdam. He has a household and his financial status doesn’t allow him to go every night to a bar. “I work 40 hours a week, but I would like to work 36 hours. I did squash and I was a soccer player for many years. I even had a gym membership but I don’t have time for that anymore. Life became busy.” - his real name in this portrait will be kept secret.