Mark has since tried MDMA (a form of ecstasy), cocaine, ketamine, magic mushrooms, acid or LSD, psychedelic truffles, crack cocaine, and crystal meth as well as a variety of other synthetic acids. That was it,” Mark said.įor many people, in Mark’s opinion, their relationship with drugs starts in a very similar way. I’d never ruled out not trying it so when I was offered I never said no. The first time Mark experimented with drugs was when he was 16: “It was lunch time at school and one of my mates had some weed. However, managing his job as a bartender plus working on two other personal projects has taken its toll. He’s always enjoyed working in pub environments and has worked towards progressing in the hospitality industry.

Mark is a 22-year-old bartender working in south-west London. Yet, this representation often fails to take into account the personal stories of the people behind the drugs. Two of the most common reasons given for using drugs were “to stay awake during shift” (48 per cent) and “to help cope with stress” (also 48 per cent).ĭocumentaries such as Ramsay’s are great at exposing vulnerabilities and even the extent drug cartels will go to for a profit.

In 2003, The Caterer, conducted a survey which produced shocking statistics surrounding the use of drugs in and around work in the hospitality industry.

What Ramsay says to be the hospitality industry’s “ dirty little secret” is in fact the average workers bread and butter. While Ramsay highlights the severity of the problem, even mentioning the overwhelming stress that is placed on workers, his documentary is more than just a cautionary tale of people with too much money or unsupervised workers. The media has recently shed light on a long-standing issue within the hospitality industry which is drug and alcohol misuse. Only last month, famous celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay featured in his self-titled documentary, Gordon Ramsay on Cocaine where the Hells Kitchen swear pot is seen testing toilet seats for traces of the class ‘A’ substance, cocaine. However, there is a group of people who regularly use drugs as a way of combatting work-related stress and it isn’t nearly as nefarious as one would think. On the outside, drug use is most commonly attributed with the homeless, criminals, reckless youths and even celebrities.

Gordon ramsay on cocaine stream