London

Law Enforcement

Police could look the other way or confiscate your weed and give you a warning. Repeat stops and suspected dealing were another matter. See Marijuana Laws for the legal overview.

“It runs from ignoring it completely to arresting you if you’re being a pain in the arse. Generally, if you’re discreet, the police won’t bother you unless you give them a reason. The likeliest thing is that the stuff gets confiscated.”

“You get an on-the-spot warning and they nick your stash, bastards.” If they think you’ve smoked before driving, though, you’re in for a lot of trouble. Might be worth catching the Tube instead.

Keep it away from kids. Parks, playgrounds and schools were places where the police could come down harder on you.

Where to Buy Marijuana

Some of the better weed was out in Greater London, around Brunel University, the former Thames Valley University, Uxbridge Road and Southall. Word of mouth made the difference. Ask for skunk if skunk is what you mean, because “weed” or “hash” could get you something else. Southall also had a rough reputation in the papers, which dubbed it the “heroin capital of London.”

In King’s Cross, Brick Lane, Soho, Camden Town, Brixton and Ladbroke Grove, markets were a place to meet people. Sometimes a stallholder knew someone. As the saying went, “If you can smell the dope, there’s someone selling it nearby.”

Brixton’s Coldharbour Lane and Camden High Street came up repeatedly, both for how easy it was to hear offers and for how often those offers went wrong:

“It’s easy to buy on the street there because you’ll hear offers as you walk along. But from a safety point of view, it’s better to have a contact you trust. Some ‘dealers’ want your wallet. In other cases, you get something that looks like weed and smells like it, but turns out to be hemp with very little THC or some hermie rubbish. Use your common sense.”

Marijuana Prices

Prices at the time:

• ⅛ ounce (about 3.5 grams): £15–25.
• ¼ ounce: £30–50.
• ½ ounce: £60–80.
• 1 ounce: £100–130.

An eighth on the street could cost £20, while an ounce through a good hookup could go for £100–140. “Only get a street deal if you’re desperate.”

Types of Marijuana

Skunk was the name you heard most in London. The better stuff could be homegrown or brought over from Amsterdam.

“Street dealers only advertise ‘skunk weed’ and ‘hash.’ Neither description is really true. ‘Skunk’ means any smelly weed that batters you over the head. If you have a good connection, what you can find is almost unlimited—much of the best stuff is imported from Amsterdam or homegrown, with very high quality.”

Street “hash” often meant soapbar. Think “boot polish, milk powder, henna, rubber tyres, and perhaps the odd bit of trim from a cannabis plant.” That's how bad it seemed. Good weed was much easier to find than good hashish, and the label on the bag didn’t tell you much.

More Information

What’s in the bag?

Ask what’s in it, what it costs and whether you can see it first.

“I’ve been conned twice by these peddlers. Once they sold me two bags of ‘happy pills.’ When I checked, one contained ordinary aspirin; the other was a bag rolled up tightly around itself.

“Another time in Camden, I bought skunk from the place I normally used. The guy gave me two bags fewer than we’d agreed, then ran away. The black bags he did give me contained wheat.”

At Notting Hill Carnival, there were Rastafarians selling huge logs of weed from supermarket bags right on the street. And it was good stuff. The less corporate music festivals could feel much the same.

London after dark

London in a nutshell? Lively and diverse, if you’re the adventurous type. Kensington and Knightsbridge have their quiet corners. For the action, there’s central London, Soho and the East End.

Shoreditch, near Liverpool Street station, drew a crowd for its clubs and bars. Head a few blocks north from Piccadilly Circus and you’re in Soho’s jazz and blues territory. There was Jazz After Dark, formerly Le Mirage Jazz and Blues Café, Ronnie Scott’s with its parade of jazz greats, and the newer, possibly hipper Polar Bear Jazz Club. The clubs competed for the best performers.

The club circuit below is from the period described here. Check dates and opening hours before making plans.

Take a cab or minicab through Soho and there’s the Hippodrome, Trafalgar Square and a glimpse of Big Ben. In those days, you might end up at the Africa Centre for the music and décor, or at the Gardening Club or Rock Garden for techno and dance. Hiring a car was an option when the Tube stopped running. From Heathrow, the A4 took you toward Piccadilly Circus, with Soho just north. Kew Gardens and Wembley were other outings.

Around Villiers Street, Charing Cross and Covent Garden, places like the Astoria, Heaven and Fabric were known for dance and techno, with gay and mixed crowds. A cover might pay the band or DJ, or simply keep the room to a certain crowd. Some places required a membership and a sponsor. People sometimes figured the door rules also kept the Metropolitan Police at bay.

Diehard rock ’n’ rollers headed east. Jack the Ripper once stalked these streets. On a night out, it was mods, rockers, goths and grunge or hard-rock fans instead. You could walk between venues such as the Rhythm Factory, the Red Eye, the Approach, Underground and 291. The stories went that people like Mick Jagger and Ike Turner turned up in the clubs.

At night, London comes alive while the rest of England sleeps. From Soho to Whitechapel, crowds spill into clubs, sound systems compete and the sweet smell of weed hangs in the air. The same scene had harder drugs, too. Locals tended to know their usual suppliers and sometimes made an introduction.

The Blair years

At the time, the Metropolitan Police, Scotland Yard and Parliament were seen as taking a loose approach to drug users. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s crime and justice bill aimed to cut drug-related crime in Britain by 25% by 2005 and 50% by 2008. Civil rights activists were holding up the legislation.

And then there’s the East End lingo: draw, weed, skunk and ganja for marijuana, or puff in other parts of town. Cocaine was Charlie, lip or blow. Crack was rock ’n’ roll. Heroin went by scag, skag or junk. LSD, mescaline and some designer drugs were strop in Cockney, chemicals to everyone else. And hash? Just hash.