The wines and lines mums
The Australian Women's Weekly|July 2024
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
GENEVIEVE GANNON
The wines and lines mums

The kitchen bench is strewn with the remnants of the day’s barbecue, but the kids are finally in bed. The salads are wilting and assorted sippy cups and squeezed-out tubes of sweetened yoghurt have been left next to the sink. Clean-up can wait until tomorrow. For now, the assembled parents are free to enjoy some fun. Husbands and wives move onto the deck to drink more wine and continue their discussion of house prices, TikTok and the recent head-lice outbreak. The doorbell rings and one of the mothers leaps to her feet in eager anticipation. That will be the cocaine.

The creep of cocaine into suburban homes is well known, but not well understood. Articles occasionally surface describing school fundraisers fuelled by white powder, or a sneaky line of coke on a child-free Sunday with friends. All identifying details have usually been stripped from the stories including, often, the author’s name.

This is, of course, because possessing an illegal drug of dependence carries a penalty of up to a year in prison. However, cocaine is flooding into Australia at record levels, and the data backs up the anecdotal evidence that plenty of the customers are middle-class mums.

Mid-forties professional and mother- of-three Anna* agreed to speak about her experience and observations on the condition of anonymity. She first tried cocaine a few years ago, and now looks forward to an occasional “fun weekend” instead of drinks at the pub.

“It’s now almost acceptable. If I tell people I don’t drink there’s an assumption among some that I do cocaine,” Anna tells The Weekly. “I don’t advertise it, but I don’t deny it.”

Other women in her social circles are open about their cocaine use too. “It is happening, and it is happening more regularly,” Anna says. For her, it’s preferable to alcohol. She likes that she can get a high “without being doped from the alcohol, without slowing down”.

Esta historia es de la edición July 2024 de The Australian Women's Weekly.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición July 2024 de The Australian Women's Weekly.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYVer todo
Maggie's kitchen
The Australian Women's Weekly

Maggie's kitchen

Maggie Beer's delicious veg patties - perfect for lunch, dinner or a snack - plus a simple nostalgic pudding with fresh passionfruit.

time-read
1 min  |
January 2025
Reclaim your brain
The Australian Women's Weekly

Reclaim your brain

Attention span short? Thoughts foggy? Memory full of gaps? Brigid Moss investigates the latest ways to sharpen your thinking.

time-read
5 minutos  |
January 2025
The girls from Oz
The Australian Women's Weekly

The girls from Oz

Melbourne music teacher Judith Curphey challenged the patriarchy when she started Australia's first all-girls choir. Forty years later that bold vision has 6500 members, life-changing programs and a new branch of the sisterhood in Singapore.

time-read
9 minutos  |
January 2025
One kid can change the world
The Australian Women's Weekly

One kid can change the world

In 2018, 10-year-old Jack Berne started A Fiver for a Farmer to raise funds for drought relief. He and mum Prue share what happened next.

time-read
5 minutos  |
January 2025
AFTER THE WAVE
The Australian Women's Weekly

AFTER THE WAVE

Twenty years ago, the Boxing Day tsunami tore across the Indian Ocean, shredding towns, villages and holiday resorts, and killing hundreds of thousands of people from Indonesia to Africa. Three Australians share their memories of terror, loss and survival with The Weekly.

time-read
8 minutos  |
January 2025
PATRICIA KARVELAS How childhood tragedy shaped me
The Australian Women's Weekly

PATRICIA KARVELAS How childhood tragedy shaped me

Patricia Karvelas hustled hard to chase her dreams, but it wasn't easy. In a deeply personal interview, the ABC host talks about family loss, finding love, battles fought and motherhood.

time-read
10 minutos  |
January 2025
Ripe for the picking
The Australian Women's Weekly

Ripe for the picking

Buy a kilo or two of fresh Australian apricots because they're at their peak sweetness now and take inspiration from our lush recipe ideas that showcase this divine stone fruit.

time-read
5 minutos  |
January 2025
Your stars for 2025
The Australian Women's Weekly

Your stars for 2025

The Weekly’s astrologer, Lilith Rocha, reveals what’s in store for your astrological sign in 2025. For your monthly horoscope, turn to page 192.

time-read
10 minutos  |
January 2025
MEL SCHILLING Cancer made me look at myself differently'
The Australian Women's Weekly

MEL SCHILLING Cancer made me look at myself differently'

One year on from going public with her bowel cancer diagnosis, Mel Schilling reveals where she's at with her health journey and how it's changed her irrevocably.

time-read
9 minutos  |
January 2025
Nothing like this Dame Judi
The Australian Women's Weekly

Nothing like this Dame Judi

A few weeks before her 90th birthday, the acting legend jumped on a phone call with The Weekly to talk about her extraordinary life – and what’s still to come.

time-read
10 minutos  |
January 2025